However, Wallangarra continued to be served by passenger trains until the services from Brisbane and Sydney were truncated at Toowoomba and Tenterfield respectively on 1 February 1972.

[5] 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 to Wallangarra, thereby opening an inter-colonial rail link between Brisbane and Sydney.

[1] The first section of Queensland's Southern and Western Railways had opened between Ipswich and Bigges Camp (Grandchester) on 31 July 1865.

The railway was constructed to link the pastoral areas of the Darling Downs, with the head of navigation on the Bremer River at Ipswich.

An indirect route from Ipswich was chosen branching off the western line near Gowrie railway station, and running south via Westbrook, to save on construction costs.

[1] The discovery of tin south of Warwick at Stannum Creek, and around present day Stanthorpe, in 1871 encourages a rush of miners to the area.

A large amount of goods was also transported over the inter-colonial border and shipped from Northern New South Wales, whilst ore was also treated at a special smelter built in Brisbane.

[1] A trial survey undertaken from Warwick to Stanthorpe in 1873 identified difficulties that would be experienced in construction of a railway line through the Granite Belt, the cost of which prevented any action being taken.

[9] In May 1885, the Queensland Government announced the sale of land in the new border township of Wallangarra, with 179 town lots to be auctioned at a starting price of £8 per acre.

The New South Wales Premier, Patrick Jennings, then proposed that Tenterfield rather than Wallangarra should be the meeting point and break-of-gauge for the two railways.

[14] However, even as the issue of the location of the break-of-gauge was still being hotly debated in the newspapers, the Queensland Government pushed on with constructing the railway according to the original agreements.

The Queensland Commissioner for Railways gave instructions on 18 November 1886 for a smaller permanent station to be constructed wholly on the Queensland side of the border at Wallangarra at a cost of £6,000 but with the platform and station yard layout designed to incorporate the eventual extension of the New South Wales standard gauge lines to the border.

[15] The New South Wales government completed its railway line to the Wallangarra station in January 1888, although it did not erect awnings over its platform until 1890.

The original station building occupies the present southern section, and consisted of office, lobby, store and closets.

As part of the standardisation of the disparate gauges, a new link between Sydney and Brisbane via Kyogle, New South Wales was identified as being a central element.

As part of this, New South Wales demanded a bridge over the Clarence River at Grafton and the upgrading of the Kyogle branch.

The importance of the Toowoomba-Wallangarra southern line diminished, as the new link via northern New South Wales and the Richmond Gap into Queensland did not involve a change of trains at a border station.

[1] During the time of the Second World War the strategic importance of Wallangarra was vital in providing an inland transhipment and staging point during the defence of Australia.

On the western (Queensland) side was a goods office, casual crew quarters with dining room, frame tent and library.

On the east side (New South Wales) was the Station Master's residence (1887), 25 ton weighbridge, lamp room, waitresses quarters and the footwarmer furnace.

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

The Southern line south of Warwick was threatened with closure in 1993-1994, but the link was retained due to community protest, and a twice weekly goods service was still operated.

It is an asymmetrical villa, being constructed in a L-shape with faceted bay in the projecting wing, posted verandah (reconstructed), stuccoed quoins and decorative brackets to the gable ends, and prominent chimneys.

[1] Wallangarra Railway Station and Complex was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 March 2003 having satisfied the following criteria.

It is a rare complex of its type, being especially comparable nationally with Serviceton on the Victoria/South Australian border (1888) in terms of its construction date, large size and redundancy.