Wallangarra railway station

Wallangarra

Queensland platform (western side), May 2008
Location Rockwell Street, Wallangarra
Coordinates 28°55′24″S 151°55′55″E / 28.9232°S 151.9319°E / -28.9232; 151.9319Coordinates: 28°55′24″S 151°55′55″E / 28.9232°S 151.9319°E / -28.9232; 151.9319
Owned by Queensland Rail
Operated by Traveltrain
Line(s) Main Northern (New South Wales)
Southern (Queensland)
Distance 792.81 kilometres from Sydney
358.49 kilometres from Brisbane
Platforms 2 (1 island)
Construction
Structure type Ground
History
Opened 4 February 1887

Wallangarra railway station is located on the New South Wales/Queensland state border in the town of Wallangarra.

History

Wallangarra station opened on 4 February 1887, when the Queensland Railway's 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Southern line was extended from Stanthorpe.[1][2]

On 16 January 1888, the New South Wales Government Railways' 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Main Northern line was extended from Tenterfield. Even though it shared a common station, the New South Wales station was initially named Jennings after the town on its side of the border. It adopted the Wallangarra name shortly after.[1][3] The state border passes through the station.

New South Wales platform (eastern side), 2015
State border painted on the platform, red is Queensland, white is New South Wales

Because of the break-of-gauge, the station was built with one island platform with one building, with the western occupied by the narrow gauge line from Queensland and the eastern side by the standard gauge line from New South Wales. Each side of the building sported the awnings and signage of its occupants.[1] Until the completion of the North Coast line in 1930, it was the main route between Sydney and Brisbane.

In 1988, the New South Wales line from Tenterfield closed. The last train to operate north of Tenterfield was an Australian Railway Historical Society charter on 15 January 1988 hauled by diesel locomotive 4487.[4] However, in the same year, Queensland Rail installed a gantry crane formerly used at Clapham Yard in Brisbane.[5]

Queensland Rail ceased freight services to Wallangarra in March 2007.[6] The Australian Railway Historical Society operated a twice yearly service to Wallangarra as the The Winelander. It last ran in February 2014 before the withdrawal of the carriage stock.[7]

It is a popular destination for steam locomotive hauled specials, with the Southern Downs Steam Railway regularly operating services from Warwick.[8]

Services

Until 1930, Wallangarra was the terminating point for the Sydney Mail, with passengers transferring to the Brisbane Limited for the remainder of the journey to Sydney.[9][10] Wallangarra continued to be served by passenger trains until the services were truncated to Toowoomba and Tenterfield respectively on 1 February 1972.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Wallangarra Railway Station and Complex (entry 601242)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Wallangarra Centre for the Government of Queensland
  3. ↑ Wallangarra Station NSWrail.net
  4. ↑ "To the Border or Bust" Railway Digest March 1988 page 99
  5. ↑ "Wallangarra" Railway Digest July 1988 page 266
  6. ↑ "Level Crossing Safety: Warwick to Wallangarra" Railway Digest April 2013 pages 40-43
  7. ↑ "End of an era" Railway Digest May 2014 pages 34-35
  8. ↑ Wallangarra Southern Downs Steam Railway
  9. ↑ "Brisbane Express First Train Leaves via North Coast Route" Sydney Morning Herald 27 September 1930
  10. ↑ The Sydney Mail Southern Downs Steam Railway
  11. ↑ "20 Years Ago" Railway Digest February 1992 page 81

Media related to Wallangarra railway station at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.