Pillinger is an abandoned port and townsite in

Kelly Basin Kelly Basin is a bay on the south eastern side of Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast, Tasmania, West Coast of Tasmania. It was named after James Kelly (Australian explorer), James Kelly an early explorer of the Tasmanian coastline. It was the l ...

, on the south eastern side of

Macquarie Harbour Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately , and has an average depth of , with deeper places up to . It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by th ...

on the West Coast of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. It was constructed for James Crotty's North Mount Lyell mining company to ship ore from the North Mount Lyell mine, utilising the

North Mount Lyell Railway The North Mount Lyell Railway was built to operate between the North Mount Lyell mine in West Coast Tasmania and Pillinger in the Kelly Basin of Macquarie Harbour. History At the start of the Twentieth century it was constructed to take o ...

that took the ore to the smelters at Crotty and on to Pillinger. East Pillinger was a company town, and West Pillinger was the neighbouring government town. East Pillinger had 3 wharves, a sawmill, brickworks and ore crusher. West Pillinger had stores, hotels and a police station. ''Kelly's Basin'' Post Office opened on 15 July 1898, was renamed ''Pillinger'' in 1899 and closed in 1924. Pillinger was the name of an old Tasmanian family, some of whom were politicians. When the

Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as ''Mount Lyell''. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in ...

took over the North Mount Lyell operations, most of the town and port facilities were either removed and utilised elsewhere, or left to rot. As a result, a number of ruins and relics in various grades of condition can be found on the former Pillinger site, including two brick kilns, three boiler engines, and part of a train carriage. In addition, the decaying remains of the rail line are still in place, running for several hundred metres out into Macquarie Harbour itself. The Tasmanian government have graded the town and its vicinity as a historical area.

Notes

References

* * * Whitham, Charles. ''Western Tasmania: A Land of Riches and Beauty.'' **2003 edition – Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown. **1949 edition – Hobart: Davies Brothers. ;

ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononyomusly as Asin, is an Indian former actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu films. Asin is a recipient of List of awards and nominations ...

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**1924 edition – Queenstown: Mount Lyell Tourist Association. ;

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{{Western Tasmania , state=autocollapse Ghost towns in Tasmania Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Macquarie Harbour North Mount Lyell Railway Localities of West Coast Council