Tarcoola, South Australia

Tarcoola (coord|30|42|S|134|34|E|region:AU-SA_type:city, postcode 5710, altitude 204 m) is a town in the Far North of South Australia 416 km north-northwest of Port Augusta. The town was proclaimed on February 21, 1901. The name was taken from the nearby Tarcoola Goldfields, which in turn had been named after "Tarcoola" the winner of the 1893 Melbourne Cup horse race. The horse "Tarcoola" had been raised on Tarcoola Station on the Darling River. "Tarcoola" in the local aboriginal language around "Tarcoola Station" means "river bend".

The original Tarcoola goldfields are long closed, however there is now new exploration for minerals in the wider area, including the Challenger Mine. Tarcoola is now best known as the junction of the Sydney-Perth and Adelaide-Darwin railways.

The town is served by the twice-weekly trains run by Great Southern Railway, The Ghan (running between Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin) and the Indian Pacific (running between Sydney and Perth. Each train stops twice a week heading in each direction at the railway station. The mail for Tarcoola also arrives by train.

Tarcoola is in the South Australian House of Assembly electoral district of Giles and the Australian House of Representatives Division of Grey.

Maps

* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/AS/5/Tarcoola.html Topo Map (rail in red dots)]