Stretching along the northern side of the main road, the Ilfracombe Machinery and Heritage Museum (affectionately known as The Machinery Mile or the Lynn Cameron Machinery Mile) offers an extraordinary journey through outback history. This remarkable open-air museum preserves the tools, machines and stories that built the Australian bush.
Walk Through Living History
- Explore a 1901-1974 police lock-up, meat house and manual telephone exchange
- Marvel at the mighty Steam Devil – the world’s last surviving 1880 steam-powered excavator
- See the 12-tonne Stuart Tank converted to a dozer and rare vehicles like the 1914 Republic Truck
- Discover pioneer ingenuity with wool balers, drays, and a wagon that carried 100 wool bales (15-20 tons!) pulled by 30 horses on 3-month treks to coastal ports
- View extraordinary natural wonders including 100-million-year-old petrified palm and uniquely rounded limestone formations
A Glimpse of Station Life
Don’t miss Oakhampton Cottage – a perfectly preserved pre-WWII station hand’s married quarters from the Lyndon estate, offering an intimate look at outback domestic life.
From 1880s steam marvels to vintage Caterpillar graders (including their first 1935 model), this is more than a museum – it’s a tribute to the mechanical and human ingenuity that tamed the outback.
Why visitors love it:
- One of Australia’s most significant machinery collections
- Fascinating displays under open skies
- Authentic insight into pastoral and transport history
- Rare surviving examples of pioneering technology
Come wander where history still whispers through the gears and timbers of these remarkable survivors from Australia’s pastoral golden age.
