The last train to operate north of Tenterfield was an Australian Railway Historical Society charter on 15 January 1988 hauled by diesel locomotive 4487.

[7] The Northern Tablelands Express provided a daylight service to Tenterfield until truncated in October 1985 to Armidale.

The Main North Line (also known as the Great Northern Railway) runs through the Central Coast, Hunter and the New England regions.

[2] In 1841, Sir Stuart Donaldson was running 18,000 sheep on a property that he named Tenterfield Station, after a family home in Scotland.

Donaldson was the first Premier of New South Wales and made biannual trips to Tenterfield to inspect his holdings there, which covered 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of unfenced land.

In the 1860s The Tenterfield Chronicle was published; the district court was established; the building of a hospital commenced and a public school was opened.

[2] In February 1886, it was announced that the successful contractor for the erection of the station buildings at Tenterfield was William Murray.

Thus, by 1965 Tenterfield Passenger Station had lost its wrought iron finials, timber pendants and fretted gable end decorations.

On 8 June 1968, with the end of steam operations on the Northern Line, the locomotive shed at Tenterfield was demolished.

[10][2] The development of the North Coast line resulted in a slow decline for Tenterfield, as passengers preferred the more direct route to Brisbane.

On 17 July 1989, the State Rail Authority announced the pending closure of Tenterfield Railway Station, a decision that was effected on 30 November 1990.

[2] The Tenterfield station building was completed in 1886 and is a first class, long and narrow, single storey, brick structure with a painted, rendered exterior.

A deep verandah runs along the length of the central block on the platform side supported by cast iron columns.

The platform includes two timber gates which are likely to be original, one at the southern end and the other at the northern; two "Tenterfield" metal signs, and an Avery weighing scale.

Features and detailing including a chimney; scalloped timber valence to the sides of the verandahs; oval opening to the gables; plinth course and sill course in render; panelled doors with flymesh doors; and double hung windows with flymesh windows.

[11] The original layout comprised four individual bedrooms in a back-to-back arrangement, each facing onto a verandah, with doors and windows opening onto it.

The top one is a common roof and floats like a canopy with timber rafters supported by brackets under the projecting eaves mounted on walls through bolts.

Other features include double hung windows, battened doors, matchboard ceiling and weatherboard interior walls.

For easy access to rail wagons, the building and deck are raised, the former on brick piers and the latter on timber stumps.

A full verandah runs along the front (eastern) façade and a pathway with steps led up through the terraced garden.

The buildings form an important townscape element in Tenterfield and contribute to the heritage value of the area.

[2] The Tenterfield railway station was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

[2] Tenterfield railway precinct is a large and highly intact railway precinct demonstrating the typical elements of a large, 19th century railway station and yard with a large and grand, first class station building; a brick, engine drivers' barracks and 3 weatherboard huts; goods shed; a coal stage; a 18-metre (60 ft) turntable pit; station master's residence; coal stage; footbridge, and associated facilities such as the jib crane.

Finally, the station's conversion to a museum is witness to the gradual decline in rail use leading to the closure of the Tenterfield line in late 1980s, following a similar pattern in other parts of the country.

[2] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The Tenterfield railway station has aesthetic significance as a first class station building (of which only 19 were built) demonstrating the architectural features and ornamentation of Rustic Gothic in the use of steeply pitched prominent gables with decorative bargeboards, finials, pendants and label moulds, and Filigree in the use of cast iron filigree and ornamental columns to verandahs.

[2] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[2] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[2] The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.

[2] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Tenterfield Railway Station group, entry number 01267 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.