Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus on Macquarie Harbour (West Coast, Tasmania).
Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus on Macquarie Harbour (West Coast, Tasmania).
Regatta Point is often assumed into the name of the locality across the bay in Macquarie Harbour, Strahan, Tasmania. The other ports in Macquarie Harbour were Strahan, and Pillinger at the southern end of the harbour.
Most shipping through the notorious Hells Gates is now the fishing fleet.
The last sea-based delivery of explosives for the Mount Lyell company occurred as late as 1976.
It was the port and terminus of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company railway line from Queenstown. [1]
When fully operational prior to closure in the 1960s, it was the location of the transfer of Mount Lyell materials to ships. [2]
Regatta Point was the location of the connection between the Mount Lyell private railway and the government railway line which passed through Strahan on the way to Zeehan, when that line was operational. It was possible to utilise passenger services from Queenstown to Burnie, using the Mount Lyell Line, the government line to Zeehan, and the Emu Bay Railway line to Burnie.
An earlier building at the station location was burnt down in 1900. [3] It currently the terminus for the rebuilt West Coast Wilderness Railway. The remaining station building at Regatta Point has been restored for the new service, having lain at risk from the 1960s to the 1990s. [4]
From Regatta Point to Queenstown:
Outside of Macquarie Harbour – on the north coast of Tasmania – Burnie or the south east Hobart – smaller anchorages exist in between – but are either facility free Port Davey or dangerous Trial Harbour.
Strahan, is a small town and former port on the west coast of Tasmania. It is now a significant locality for tourism in the region.
Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately 315 square kilometres (122 sq mi), and has an average depth of 15 metres (49 ft), with deeper places up to 50 metres (160 ft). It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the presence of a rock wall on the outside of the channel's curve. This man-made wall prevents erosion and keeps the channel deep and narrow, rather than allowing the channel to become wide and shallow. A reported Aboriginal name for the harbour is Parralaongatek.
West Coast Council is a local government body in Tasmania, covering much of the western region of the state. West Coast is classified as a rural local government area and has a population of 4,167. The major towns and localities of the region include Strahan, Rosebery, Zeehan and the principal town of Queenstown.
Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia 139 kilometres (86 mi) 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.
The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
The West Coast of Tasmania is mainly isolated rough country, associated with wilderness, mining and tourism. It served as the location of an early convict settlement in the early history of Van Diemen's Land, and contrasts sharply with the more developed and populous northern and eastern parts of the island state.
The Murchison Highway is a highway located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The 147-kilometre (91 mi) highway runs generally north–south, with Somerset, near Burnie, as its northern terminus and Zeehan as its southern terminus. The highway was opened on 13 December 1963. Part of the highway from Waratah to Burnie was known as the Waratah Highway until 1973.
The Melba Line is a 1,067 mm narrow-gauge railway on the West Coast of Tasmania. The line was originally constructed as a private railway line named the Emu Bay Railway and was one of the longest-lasting and most successful private railway companies in Australia. While at present the line travels from Burnie to Melba Flats, it previously ran through to Zeehan carrying minerals and passengers as an essential service for the West Coast community.
Trial Harbour is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of West Coast in the North-west and west LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of the town of Zeehan. The 2016 census has a population of 24 for the state suburb of Trial Harbour.
The mines of the West Coast of Tasmania have a rich historical heritage as well as an important mineralogical value in containing or having had found, specimens of rare and unusual minerals. Also, the various mining fields have important roles in the understanding of the mineralization of the Mount Read Volcanics, and the occurrence of economic minerals.
The history of the Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania has fascinated enthusiasts from around the world, because of the combination of the harsh terrain in which the railways were created, and the unique nature of most of the lines.
The Strahan–Zeehan Railway, also known as the "Government Railway", was a railway from Strahan to Zeehan on the west coast of Tasmania.
Thomas Bather Moore was a pioneer explorer of Western and South West, Tasmania, Australia.
Linda is the site of an old ghost town in the Linda Valley in the West Coast Range of Tasmania, Australia. It has also been known as Linda Valley.
Zeehan railway station in Tasmania, was a major junction and railway yard for numerous different railway and tramway systems in western Tasmania in the town of Zeehan.
The Macquarie Heads Breakwater was a project of the Strahan Marine Board in Western Tasmania to sustain a reasonable depth to the Hells Gates and Macquarie Heads of the Macquarie Harbour area to allow for shipping of limited tonnage to serve Regatta Point while the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was exporting its mineral products by sea. The heads were notoriously difficult to navigate in good weather, and even more difficult in bad weather.
The West Coast Wilderness Railway is a reconstruction of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell railway in Western Tasmania between Queenstown and Regatta Point, Strahan. The railway is significant because of its Abt rack system to conquer the mountainous terrain through rainforest, with original locomotives still operating on the railway today. Now operating as a tourist experience with a focus on sharing the history of Tasmania's West Coast, the original railway began operations in 1897 as the only link between Queenstown and the port of Strahan.
Philosophers Ridge is the long spur that connects Mount Lyell and Mount Owen in the West Coast Range of Western Tasmania.
Queenstown in Western Tasmania has had two railway stations. The original was built for the railway built for the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company, and lasted until the closing of the railway line in 1962. The newer station was built for the re-built railway, the West Coast Wilderness Railway.
Zeehan Highway is a road between Zeehan and Queenstown in Western Tasmania.
