Located on the Stuart Highway 534 km south of
Darwin and 177 km south of
Katherine. Originally meant to be the southern terminus for the infamous North Australian railway - 'the line to nowhere' This was, in fact, 8km further south at Birdum.
The town of Larrimah was established by the Military during WW11 with the gradual shift of the railhead from Birdum to Larrimah for the movement of troops and supplies to
Darwin.
In late 1941, the 8th Australian Staging
camp was built by the Australian Army - setup for troops making the journey by road from
Adelaide before transferring onto rail at Larrimah siding for the rest of the journey to
Darwin. A telephone Repeater Station was built giving Army personnel access to communications to the south and north.
Today Larrimah is just another stopover point on the Stuart Highway with a roadhouse, a caravan park and a delightful outback pub, The Larrimah Hotel. This was originally the pub at Birdum until it was moved to Larrimah in 1952. There are only a few relics left of the railway line which was closed down in 1976. The Larrimah Museum is opposite the pub.