I was in DC for work, but had to drive to Philly for a client meeting. On the way up, I saw the sign for the Aberdeen Proving Ground and thought that sounds pretty cool. Then I saw the sign for a museum. I thought 'Cooler!'.

So I pulled off the highway on a whim and went looking for the entrance. I pulled up to the gate, the guard told me the museum was closed and they 'only' had a few tanks in a field still. I said that sounded cool. Sent me to another gate to get a visitor pass.

After I got the pass and directions, I find the field. Bottom line, I know from things I have read that many of the paint schemes are inaccurate and that some of the tanks are not 'pristine' to be kind. It was still really AWESOME to stand next to the Jagdtiger. Wow. And a couple Shermans (one of which I think was a Firefly).

I killed my cell phone taking pictures. It was sooo worth the stop. I must have spent over 1 1/2 hours just wandering around the field.

There were a lot of things I hadn't expected. Especially all the old German stuff. And some WWI tanks too.

Just thought I would share the experience.

John

I thought all of the tanks from here were going somewhere else in the US and placed under cover. That said I understand your enjoyment having Bovington near to me.

Was it this Jagdtiger ? ( see avatar) yes it used to be a lot better.Is the restored Elefant still there,or the rail gun,or the Panzer IV? Like you said its really close by,always used to stop coming home from Baltimore or DC

Darren,I'm jealous,that Bovingtin looks awesome

Darren,

You may be right about under cover. I think some tanks have been moved,because there were numerous empty concrete pads. Some still had a nameplate telling you what had been there. One I remember was a Japanese medium tank.

Also, at the security gate the gentleman told me that a lot of the museums collection had been moved to Fort Lee, VA. But they still had not a broken ground for the new museum. I don't know if the tanks will be indoor or not. I hope so, because the weather has taken a toll a on many of them. For example on a couple of the Russian T-34s, the bottom of thefuel tanks were rusted away.


Even with all the wear, seeing so many of these (all most all of them) for the first time was great. I mean a Churchill, Matilda and a Chieftain!


John

Aberdeen Museam is closing ?????? DAMN!!! I was going to make a trip down there just to see it again! ... GOOD THING I was there three years ago before I went to Iraq and took about 500 pictures....whew

The first time i was there was 2002. Because of 9/11, the only way to get on the grounds was to know somebody who worked there. We drove down from CT and i had no idea of even researching before hand. Luckily, my uncle worked there and was able to get me in.

The last time i was there was in 04. The panzer IVd was repainted but was not at the museam/tank park. It was on the side of the road with some US SPG's and a Sherman ARV.
I never got to see the Elefant. And i guess they returned the Tiger I to Germany years before.
but it was still excellent to see. And the weapons museam was really cool too.
I bought my Dragon Ferdinand kit there.

Several vehicles from the Aberdeen Museum were moved to Ft. Lee. Also the Armor and Cavalry Museum at Ft. benning has aquired several vehicles and is in the process of having more moved there. The holdup at the moment is transportation costs. But, the Curator told me this week that they hope to have those costs resolved within the next few months.

Yes, that was the one! HUGE!

I didn't get pictures of the field guns and larger cannons, actually not all of the tank shots I would have liked. Killed my cell phone taking pictures.

I am uploading to photobucket now and hopefully will be able to put a link into Armorama to share them all. Total of 231 pics before the phone gave up the ghost.

Update: Here is the link.

http://s746.photobucket.com/albums/xx109/jkantirakis/Aberdeen%20Proving%20Ground%20on%20Army%20237th%20B-day/

John

Very cool! I thought that Aberdeen had an artillery museum, not an armor museum? My dad served there and at Dougway. I have plans on visiting both in the next couple of years. Luckily, I live near Fort Benning and Camp Blanding(one of which is where the Patton Museum is moving to). I'll be taking two cameras, plus my cell.

Matt,

The Patton museum is not moving to Ft. Benning. Only the Armor and cavalry museum has moved there along with the Armor School. I know this can be confusing since the Patton Museum and the Armor and cavalry museum were co-located at Ft Knox.

But hopefully when the new Armor and Cavalry Museum opens (target date 2015) it will be much better than it was at Ft. Knox. They will have more display space.

I took all the pictures I shot back in 2003 and put them into their own folder on my photobucket. Here is the link, hope you all enjoy. Sad to hear APG museum is closing

http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g124/fhvn4d/Aberdeen%20Proving%20Ground%20Museum/

Someone please let me know if the link doesnt work

The link worked great. Yea all the inside stuff is gone and many of the vehicles are as well. Hope you enjoyed my shots too.

John

John, I thought they were great!! And looking at your shots, I would have to say between the two of us we have almost the complete collection documented! I cant say how sad I am to hear that the museum is gone. I was planning a trip down again this summer ( I live in Massachusetts) just to go see that and the Museum at Dover AFB. That DE, MD area is rich with great museums. When I vacationed in DE in 03, we hit the Smithsonian campus in Chantilly, APG museum, and another aviation museum up in PA, as well as the USS New Jersey. Thank god my wife was understanding !

Brian, thanks. I am glad you liked them. I live in Michigan now (used to live in Uxbridge MA), but had to go do DC last summer for a funeral (Uncle Viet Nam vet). Anyhow, I had driven by Aberdeen numerous times to visit family in the DC area (actually lived there and was born there in Bethesda Naval Hosp), but my wife and daughters were not real excited about a TANK museum as they put it. However, I did get them to do the USS New Jersey last summer after the funeral. Which was pretty awesome too. Talk about some big guns! My wife is also very good about my hobby and interests, but sure was easier without the girls around to just wander the field not worrying about how long I was taking.

I have a hope to sometime see the Patton museum, which I also hear is pretty awesome! Would love to see some of the prototype heavy tanks and such if they still exist.

BTW, I am assuming your avatar is you, so I would like to thank you for your service too!

The majority of the vehicles are being consolidated at Ft Benning (the new Armor School is located there). Some went to Va. The Patton museum retained all of the Patton related artifacts and a few of the tanks from the collection. I believe the plans are to empty Aberdeen out completely.

These moves came about with the restructuring of the Army and the lack of funding directed towards the museums. While someone else mentioned a possible 2015 opening date for the Benning museum, I'll believe it when I see it. As the budget grows tighter, programs like these have a tendency to take a back seat.

I first went to Aberdeen in 1975 and have been back 3 times since. While there were some new additions when I went in late '80's, by the early '90's things were going downhill. Many vehicles had disappeared and some had their turret sides cut open for display (unfortunately, these were only closed off by expanded metal screening so the insides were exposed to the weather and were rusting away). It was really sad.

There is another tank museum in Danville, Va. It's the American Armored Foundation and is well worth a visit, if you ever get in the area. They've got around 100 vehicles, plus great displays of uniforms, small arms, and other miscellaneous items. Everything is indoors, so it doesn't matter if it's raining when you go. You can look them up on the net to find their website.

I try to leave my museum visits up to my dad. He served two tours in the EOD and keeps up with what's where. He plans on visiting Aberdeen, Danville, Ft. Knox, and a few smaller museums. I'll be going to about one a year, as I have a cat to take care of.

I have never been to Aberdeen but damn i sure have one hell of a pile of pics from there thanks to the net and a few buds in the US .. strange as this will sound i think its a good thing that Aberdeen is closing down which is still bad to hear but for the life of the tanks there its a good thing ..so many very rare and not so rare tanks are in very terrible condition ,,I've got pics of panzer 3's with collapsed suspension and massive amounts of rust ..the T34's with the floors rusted out and a couple of Italian tanks with had sunk into the ground .
Now with it closing these tanks will get a new life and hell if they restore then even better still .
I do wonder why those tanks were not better looked after ..i only guess would be cost .,got to admit they did a very nice paint job on the Elephant and Panzer IV ..they looked great in the end .

Phill

Phil, I understand what you're saying about giving the tanks a new lease on life. Unfortunately, when budgets get tight, programs like these are some of the first things to get the axe. I'm afraid these vehicles will end up sitting in a field at Benning with no funds for a building or restoration efforts and we'll end up losing them, like we lost all the half tracks and armored cars that were once at Aberdeen (examples of almost all of the German vehicles were sent there for testing and evaluation).

If this is going to be the case, I think the government ought to think about breaking up the collection. The vehicles could be donated (or loaned) to the various private museums and foundations around the country who do have the means to properly take care of them, or at least get them out of the weather.

Bob is right...funds are in short supply from the Military side for museums. But many of the museums have started private foundations to help fund the museums. We all talk about how we hope the vehicles and artifacts are taken care of, but how many of us actually donate to the museums to help out. I support the Armor, Infantry and National World War II Museums with donations each year. I would encourage each of you to do what you can as well.

The site for the Armor Museum is:


http://www.armorcavalrymuseum.org/Plan.html

I'm sure they would love to get any support you can give them, and it would help them meet their finacial requirements and get the museum open sooner.

Dave

Here is some additional information on the progress at Benning with the Armor and Cavalry Museum

http://www.armorfortheages.com/NACM/NACMmain/NACMmain.htm

This is a video of the Tiger I being shipped to Benning for the colection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP6PAME0aSA&feature=youtu.be

Good point to bring out Dave. I sell some of my kits and builds on Ebay with 20% of the profit going to the AAF Museum in Danville. I'm getting a small list together of kits that I want to sell here. When I do, it'll be with the same arrangement.

I will echo Dave's sentiments about supporting any and all museums however you can. No amount is too small and every bit is appreciated, not only by the museums, but also by all the future visitors to them, including yourselves.

All this talk made me dig through my mess and find this set of photos taken back in the mid 70's at Aberdeen. Sorry but the originals were pretty time faded. I tried to adjust them a bit to show better (sadly the original negatives were destroyed).

If you compare them to the newer ones posted you'll see some things that have since disappeared, and other items that now show a lot more wear and tear (the twin 128 mount is a good example). Let me know if you have any problems with the link.

http://s1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh612/AFVFan/Aberdeen1974/

Those photos were great. Loved the 70's cars and clothes. Way back machine there!

As far as the vehicles, yes a lot is different, but a number were still there, but much worse for wear. I remember standing next to the T-34s and the spare fuel tanks are completely rusted thru. Lots of rust everywhere on those vehicles. Hopefully one day they will all get under a roof somewhere.

What we ought to be doing is donating for a private charity that can at least provide some sort of protection against the elements.

What do you think they're trying to do at Ft. Benning, raise money to buy a lawn mower so they can park them in a field??
Jeez