Truck/Tractor/Car Museums Collectons To Visit

Hi All You blokes.

I have started this post as a resource to bring together Museums Peoples collections scattered across this nation and including NZ, so just in case one of us will be traveling through that that part of the world you can have a heads up that there is a fab truck/car/tractor Museum or collection that you can enjoy. Please keep chat to a minimum only if it is relevant to the collection or tips and tricks for the potential visitor. Please provide a Name, location, details of the collection a web page would be good if there is one.

So ill start this topic off:

McFEETERS MOTOR MUSEUM Forbes NSW AUS

www.motormuseum.com.au/introduction.htm

Located on the Newell Highway at Forbes NSW is a stunning new facility purpose built for displaying a vast collection of meticulously restored motor cars. Cars range from veterans to custom cars, rare, common and just down right bizarre.


The Sydney Bus & Truck Museum Limited

www.sydneybusmuseum.com/

The Museum
In recognition of the earlier activities, the State Government in 1986 made available the former Tempe tram depot to the Museum. The purpose was to establish a working museum, storage and work site, so that buses and trucks could be restored. The threat that many elderly exhibits would simply rust away has been removed. The Museum was opened to the public in late 1986. Thus the Sydney Bus Museum was born and immediately became a community organization. The exhibits housed at Tempe are a unique collection of our history and the concept is truly a hands on working museum.

Our Exhibits
There are over 90 vehicular exhibits at the museum. A majority are positioned for public viewing and many are in running condition. The oldest bus is a 1924 Ruggles and the oldest truck is a 1914 Leyland RAF. The newest bus is a 1983 Mercedes Benz O305 and the newest truck is a 1975 Leyland Buffalo. A number of exhibits are also stored offsite. There are also a large number of non-vehicular exhibits relating to public and commercial vehicles at the Museum. Our Archives hold many historic documents and other items which help interpret our vehicular exhibits. The acquisition, restoration and disposal of exhibits is controlled to ensure that our public and commercial vehicle heritage will be secure long into the future.

Richmond Vale Railway Museum

www.richmondvalerailwaymuseum.org

The Richmond Vale Railway Museum is a volunteer non-profit organisation, formed in 1979 with the aim of preserving the Railway and Mining Heritage of J&A Brown and the Hunter Valley.

Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club

home.vicnet.net.au/~mstec/

Wide array of steam, stationary engines and a few trucks, dragline.

Campbelltown Steam & Machinery Museum - NSW

www.csmm.com.au/

The Museum houses a unique collection of vintage steam and internal combustion agricultural and industrial engines. Ancillary machinery and a two foot gauge railway are also housed on the grounds.

Road Transport Hall Of Fame - N.T.

www.roadtransporthall.com/

The Road Transport Historical Society is a volunteer based project dedicated to the preservation and presentation of Australia's unique road transport heritage. It does this through its magnificant Shell Rimula Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, the traditional birthplace of the roadtrain.

www.hcvc.com.au/J1/index.php?option=com_weblinks&Itemid=50

www.hcvc.com.au/J1/index.php?option=com_...s&catid=32&Itemid=50

Here is another good one, the Army museum at Bandiana , about 10 minutes east of Albury.


and lots more. if you know your Inters you should spot an unusual one in that linup.

Well that might have been a bit difficult, here is a closer look

Here is a good one in WA with somthing for everyone.
www.dardanupheritagepark.com.au/

If your into vintage earthmoving, steam saw mills etc this is a good day out in WA.

Home of the euclid dozer with twin screamers for power.


Basil

atkipete - Thanks for the better pic. That's the very first of the production model Army AACO's, the MK I. It has all the hallmarks of its Blitz origins, from which the design emanated. On the cover of the manual it would say .. "Truck, Cargo, 2 1/2 Ton, GS, IHC, Aust, No.1, MK I" ..

This model of the AACO wasn't fitted with a winch. Only 100 of these were built, to meet an initial order from the Dept of Supply for the Australian Army, which was placed in mid-1958.
On Friday, April 17, 1959, an official handover of the keys of the first production MK I's, was held at the Dandenong Works of IHC of Australia.
The keys were officially handed over to Alan S. Hulme, Minister of State for Supply, by the MD of IHC of A, Mr W. W. Killough. The keys were then taken by Army Personnel, who drove the trucks away to an Army depot (possibly Bandiana).
The MK I's proved highly satisfactory, and another order was laid with IHC of A in December 1962, for 600 of the trucks, with a winch added .. and the nose section was redesigned to the shape that was shared with the civilian trucks. These improved models were known as the MK 3. The first of the MK 3's were delivered in Sept 1963.

The Army never used the designation, AACO. They were always referred to as .. "International, General Service, 2.5 ton Truck". Interestingly, the MK I's were referred to by IHC of A, as 3 ton trucks.

The civilian AACO-172 appeared in 1963, at the same time as the production of the first Army MK 3's.
It has been stated by an advertising manager of IHA, that the AACO nomenclature stood for "Australian Army Cab Over".
This is highly unlikely, and sounds like either faulty memory cells or a fabrication. Because the Army never referred to them as AACO's (or ACCO's), but merely "IH Trucks, GS", it's more likely that the nomenclature came from the then-current, IH "AA" model designation, and the "CO" was correct in that it referred to "Cab Over".

The first Aussie-built IH truck left the assembly line in 1950, and the new Dandenong plant, completed in 1952, swung 100% Australian-built IH trucks into production.

The initial proposal for the AACO came about in March 1953, after a meeting between representatives of the Dept of the Army, the Design Establishment (then a division of the Dept of Supply), and IHC of Australia.
This meeting was proposed by the MD of IHC of A, Mr. W.W. Killough, after he stated that he considered that an Australian-built, military, 4WD truck, could, and should, be built here.
Recommendations and proposals were taken from Army personnel, and the Dept of Supply, as to the vehicle requirements. It was put forward by Army personnel that a cab-over 4WD vehicle, similar to the Blitz (CMP), with forward-raked windscreens, was the ideal design. 12.00 x 20 standard NATO tyres/wheels were specified.

Accordingly, IHC of A designed, produced, and displayed, a mockup of the AACO, by June of 1953, and the Dept of Supply was impressed enough to order THREE prototypes. These 4 x2 prototypes were produced and delivered, for official testing, to the Army Proving Ground at Monageeta, VIC., by mid-1955.

Interesting, the Design Establishment, another Govt division, undertook to design and supply the live front axle and the transfer cases to convert the 4 x 2 AACO's to 4WD.
The 3 prototypes were tested for 3 years, and improvements and modifications were added. By 1958, the Dept of Supply and the Dept of the Army were satisfied that the truck had met or passed all the design criteria, and the contract for the initial 100 MK I's, was let.
Here is the very first Prototype (P1) .. note the tube-type front axle, which has no drive capability ..

Gday all,

When I was in Darwin I made a visit to :

Qantas Empire Airways Ltd Hangar, Darwin
22 MacDonald Street, Parap, Northern Territory


Basically heading North out of the city, its signposted right opposite Fannie Bay.

The Motor Vehicles Enthusiasts Club is based there
They dont appear to have a website, but contact details are here.

www.carsonline.com.au/mvec.htm

Cheers
RS

Now what is in the big shed Roland ? Any piccys you are hiding from us.
Full marks Ron, still a couple of questions regarding those early ones. The Mk2 was supposed to be a Mk1 with winch, on the AS chassis but I am not sure any were built. That Mk1 is the only one I have seen and Bandiana dont have a Mk2. Has anyone ever seen a Mk2, ie 3 piece bonnet, tapered chassis and winch ?? Mk3 had a straight rail chassis produced locally.
I think the first protype was delivered as a 4x2 and P2,P3 were 4x4. The photo on page 8 of my ACCO book seems to confirm this.
"Australian A Line Cab over" and "Australian C Line Cab Over" were mentioned in IH advertising of the 70s and this fits with general IH practice. Whatever happened to the ABCO in that case ???

Gday Pete

I have already posted pics of a Mack B61, and a White armoured personnel carrier.
I had a camera battery malfunction that day.
The other pics I have are :-
















There were many other vehicles there, many cars including a Citroen SM, loads of items of memorabilia, small engines.

Its well worth a visit if you are in Darwin.

Cheers
RS

Atkipete - I've never seen a MK 2, and according to some, they were supplied amongst the first batch of 100 ordered.
I can't see how this would happen, as a Dept of Supply order is very specific, and variations from a specific order would not normally be allowed.
There would be the additional costing of a winch to be covered, and unless the original order covered variations or modifications (an unlikely scenario), the MK 2 version would rate as a completely different and new order.

It is possible that a few MK 2's were ordered as an additional and separate order, and this order has been lost in the archives, and ignored in the media releases. I would hazard a guess that a few MK 2's were ordered as an improved version, and in effect, a prototype .. and when they performed satisfactorily, the design criteria was included in the order for the 600 MK 3's.

Did you know? .. that the IH design team engineered a straight-through rear driveshaft for the Mk 5's? (F1, F2 & F5) .. that involved using the standard IH light duty banjo axle housing, and which utilised a drop box (power divider) containing 3 gears, bolted to the front of the diff carrier casting?

These drop boxes were built by David Brown, and were a regular source of problems in the 6 x 6's when used on severe service such as tippers, as they were the weak point in the drivetrain.
I saw numbers of these drop boxes busted, when I was in 'Nam, particularly on the tippers. We (the Engineers) and the RAASC boys gave the Mk 5 tippers a hard time .. like all young fellas, we hammered them "pedal to the metal", overloaded, and abused.

I use to load about 30-35 Mk 5 tippers at a time, that operated in convoy, out of the Quarry in Nui Dat (85 Tpt Platoon, RAASC). A mate and I were operating 2 x 966B Cat loaders, with 2