Now a museum with exhibits that include buildings, rolling stock and memorabilia, it is located on the main north–south road route through the Northern Territory, the Stuart Highway.

[4] Improvements were made to the station precinct during the 1920s and 30s, including a turning triangle for locomotives, livestock loading facilities and a new post office, telephone exchange and banking services.

[5] During World War II, the township of Adelaide River became an important military base, and a large field hospital was established near the railway station.

A large depot was also established on the northern side of the river, served by trains delivering supplies to the military camps from the Port of Darwin, and a spur line constructed to the armoury at Snake Creek.

Following the failure of that venture and damage caused by Cyclone Tracy in 1974, the Australian National Railways Commission closed the line in 1976; the last passenger service stopped at the station on 29 June.

The society maintains the main station building and some rolling stock, memorabilia and associated infrastructure in the Adelaide River yard and other locations along the former line.

A goal for the society has been to restore a section of track north from the station to the Snake Creek armoury and to run a tourist train, although little progress has been made on this since the 2004 opening of the standard-gauge Adelaide–Darwin railway on a parallel route through the town.