Tullah, Tasmania

Tullah is a town in the northern part of the West Coast Range, on the west coast of Tasmania, about 111 km south of Burnie. The town has a population of roughly 270 people. At the 2006 census, Tullah had a population of 195.

The town is roughly divided into two "suburbs", an older northern and a younger, more planned out southern. 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.

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, but 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 under its earlier name of the North Farrell Tramway.

The railway originally had three locomotives, 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 in the 1930s where it still is today. The most well known locomotive, Wee Georgie Wood, has been salvaged and returned to operation, but as of 1010, 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 is still in use (known as the Wee Georgie Wood Railway), 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.

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