Territory. Other locations that were short-listed include Albury, Armidale, Bombala, Dalgety, Lake George, Orange, Tooma, Lyndhurst and Yass-Canberra. The site of the new capital city would not have been the existing town of Tumut. It seems two sites near Tumut for a new city were proposed; one to the east of Tumut, at a site in the valley of Goobarragandra River, which is now part of the localities of Little River and Lacmalac; and another site between Tumut and Adelong, near Gadara, under which Tumut itself would have become a part of the new Federal Territory. Planning work occurred for both sites. 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 capital, however the Senate favoured Bombala so no consensus was reached. When federal parliamentarians put the final decision to a series of nine elimination ballots, in October 1908, Tumut was eliminated in the fifth ballot. The town's rugby league team competed in the Riverina Maher Cup competition, beginning as a fixture between teams from Gundagai and Tumut under rugby union rules in 1920, before switching to league rules in 1921. Climate Tumut's climate is considerably wetter than other regions in the lower plains of the South West Slopes, owing to its location at the immediate foot of the Brindabella Range; hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters characterise its climate. Snow may fall during the winter months, with the most recent significant snowfall having occurred in the exceptionally cold event of August 2019, where snow fell and settled to the town centre at just above sea level. Cold rain below and sleet are a usual occurrence in winter. Under the Köppen climate classification scheme, the town is located in transitional areas between the humid subtropical (Cfa) and oceanic climates (Cfb). Rainfall records began in 1883 at Adelong (Tumut St), but temperature averages not until 1907, and temperature extremes not until 1965. All records ceased in 1994. Heritage listings Tumut has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Adelong Falls Gold Workings Cootamundra-Tumut railway: Tumut railway station 46 Russell Street: Montreal Community Theatre Tumut Plains Road: Junction Bridge, Tumut 82-84 Wynyard Street: Tumut Post Office Economy Tumut is the centre of a softwood industry based on plantation Pinus radiata. CarterHoltHarvey Woodproducts (Central and Northern Regions) Pty Ltd operate a major sawmill on Adelong