Tullah is a town in the northern part of the West Coast Range, on the

west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of Tasmania, about 111 km south of Burnie. The town has a population of approximately 202 people.

Town

The town is roughly divided into two "suburbs", an older northern one, and a younger, more planned out southern one. The northern half was originally a mining town called Mount Farrell, established in year 1900 after silver lead ore was discovered in the area. ''Mount Farrell'' Post Office opened on 1 April 1900 and was renamed ''Tullah'' in 1910.

Hydro era

It was later extended southwards by the HEC and used as a hydroelectric power scheme construction town during the making of the Pieman Scheme in the 1970s to early 1990s when its population reached 2500. It is now mainly a community at the edge of Lake Rosebery and a fishing location. Prior to adequate roads being built in the area, it was serviced by the

Wee Georgie Wood Railway The Wee Georgie Wood Railway is a narrow gauge tourist tramway running from Tullah, on a http://www.weegeorgiewood.com.au/history.html (most other sources say 1.6km) short track by the edge of Lake Rosebery in the West Coast Municipality of T ...

under its earlier name of the North Farrell Tramway.

Railway

The railway originally had three

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s, Wee Georgie Wood, Wee Mary and a Krauss engine named "Puppy". Wee Mary was never restored and its chassis is currently in the Ida Bay/Lune River area. Prior to working in Tullah, Puppy worked in the Duck River region of the state and was eventually bought by the North Mt Farrell Co. The name "Puppy" was given due to its high pitched whistle, but it was originally Krauss number 2640 of 1892. The engine was eventually sold to

Ida Bay Railway The Ida Bay Railway is a , narrow gauge heritage railway. Located south of Hobart, Tasmania, it is the most southerly railway in Australia. Early history of the area Tasmanian aborigines have occupied the island for a time still not precisely ...

in the 1930s where it still is today. The most well known

, Wee Georgie Wood, has been salvaged and returned to operation, but as of 2010, it has been stripped down due to restoration work while the diesel engine "Alpha Romeo" works the short track in its place. Today the majority of the original track is now under the waters of Lake Rosebery but a short length of track close to the

Murchison Highway The Murchison Highway is a highway located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The highway runs generally north–south, with Somerset, near Burnie, as its northern terminus and Zeehan as its southern terminus. The highway was ...

is still in use (known as the

), along with some rolling stock. The track is a two-foot (610 mm) gauge, standard at the time. The Wee Georgie Wood railway currently has the remains of another Krauss locomotive that worked in the Queenstown area, a few electric locomotives (2 more of the same make are rotting at the western end of Gleadow Street in Launceston) and a gang motor from the original line. Beyond the highway, the remaining 600m of railway to the mines was repurposed into part of the Mackintosh Dam Road. A small timber line, approximately 7 km long, also ran south from the town. Tullah features in the novel "The Sound of One Hand Clapping" by

Richard Flanagan Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer, who has also worked as a film director and screenwriter. He won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel '' The Narrow Road to the Deep North''. Flanagan was described by the ''Washing ...

, published in 1997.

Local amenities

Tullah has a cafe, a post office (no deliveries, reception and sending only, bill payment service and banking), Harcourts Real Estate office, the Tullah Tavern and the Tullah Lakeside Lodge (which both offer accommodation), a teddy bear shop, a woodwork shop, a football oval, and online access centre. Mobile telephone service is erratic, more reliable in the northern part of town, and in the hills above town. Television reception is fair, and many houses have a satellite TV dish. ADSL2 Internet connectivity is available or VSAT satellite link. The town is located on the shore of Lake Rosebery. Small boats can, with care, be launched into the lake from the boat ramp off the main street, Farrell Street.

Local attractions

Animals which can be seen in the area include: wombats,

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban a ...

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

, the occasional tiger quoll and (rarely) a

Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

. Towns near Tullah include Rosebery,

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, and neighbouring mining towns of Dundas, Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater ...

, Queenstown, Strahan and Waratah. It is also near

Cradle Mountain Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. At above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mountai ...

and (via Rosebery) the Montezuma Falls. Local lakes include the Mackintosh, Pieman, Murchison, Plimsoll and Herbert. Local rivers include the Mackintosh,

Sophia Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to: *Sophia (wisdom) *Sophia (Gnosticism) *Sophia (given name) Places *Niulakita or Sophia, an island of Tuvalu *Sophia, Georgetown, a ward of Georgetown, Guyana *Sophia, North Carolina, an unincorpor ...

(south end of Lake Mackintosh), Murchison, Pieman, Que and Fossey and various tributaries and creeks, such as Animal Creek. Nearby are Murchison Dam, and the Sophia Adit, a mine-style tunnel leading to the main Sophia Tunnel which links Murchison Dam with Lake Mackintosh. An alternative is the Mackintosh Dam and Tullabardine Dam. There are boat ramps into Lake Mackintosh.

References

External links

* http://www.tullahlakesidelodge.com.au/ - Tullah Lakeside Lodge - resort on the shores of Lake Rosebery {{authority control Towns in Tasmania Localities of West Coast Council West Coast Range Pieman River Power Development