This museum has opened in Far North Queensland, boasting the largest collection of military vehicles in the southern hemisphere. Roderick Eime tests his claim.
Extract:
Most boys were content with plastic model kits and watching TV shows like Combat! and The Rat Patrol, but not Rob Lowden.
Lowden’s collection is not the ‘junk yard’ assortment seen at other so-called museums either. Each exhibit is either restored to full working condition or preserved carefully as a static display item.
“This is the biggest collection of this nature in the southern hemisphere,” says Dennis Tocock, the museum’s full-time manager.
“We’ve got armoured vehicles and tanks from Germany, the former Czechoslovakia, Britain, America, Australia, Canada, Russia and France.”
Other tank museums in Australia have closed and the Army's own display at Puckapunyal is currently closed to the public because of 'security' concerns.
Lowden has been vigorously searching for new additions to his collection and he has sourced items from the closed museums, private collectors looking to downsize and even through agents, like one in Bulgaria who has located several former Soviet items.
If you'd this complete story for your publication, just contact us.
Flickr image library:
Extract:
Most boys were content with plastic model kits and watching TV shows like Combat! and The Rat Patrol, but not Rob Lowden.
Lowden’s collection is not the ‘junk yard’ assortment seen at other so-called museums either. Each exhibit is either restored to full working condition or preserved carefully as a static display item.
“This is the biggest collection of this nature in the southern hemisphere,” says Dennis Tocock, the museum’s full-time manager.
“We’ve got armoured vehicles and tanks from Germany, the former Czechoslovakia, Britain, America, Australia, Canada, Russia and France.”
Other tank museums in Australia have closed and the Army's own display at Puckapunyal is currently closed to the public because of 'security' concerns.
Lowden has been vigorously searching for new additions to his collection and he has sourced items from the closed museums, private collectors looking to downsize and even through agents, like one in Bulgaria who has located several former Soviet items.
If you'd this complete story for your publication, just contact us.
