Between 1903 and 1904, sites in the Australian townships of Albury, Tumut, Orange, Bombala and Dalgety were considered for what purpose?
Tumut kilometres southwest of Tumut. Train services were progressively reduced in the early 1980s before the final trains to Cootamundra ran in January 1984 before being suspended when flood damage to the line was deemed not economical to repair. Tumut was one of the ten areas short-listed in 1908 as a site for the Australian Capital Territory. Other locations that were short-listed include Albury, Armidale, Bombala, Dalgety, Lake George, Orange, Tooma, Lyndhurst and Yass-Canberra. An earlier vote following inspections of potential sites in 1902 saw the new Federal House of Representatives vote in favour of Tumut as the location for the
History of the Australian Capital Territory recommended sites as a future capital territory. Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of the new Federal Government, added another four sites to this list: Albury, Tamworth, Armidale and Tumut, and members of the new government toured the various sites in 1902. The tour proved inconclusive, and upon their return the members decided to refer the problem to a Royal Commission, with the Minister for Home Affairs, William Lyne, pushing for Tumut or Albury as he preferred a site in his electorate. Subsequently, the Commission presented its report to Parliament in 1903, recommending the sites of Albury, Tumut and Orange,