| Historical notes: | Tenterfield railway precinct is located on the Main North line, running from Sydney and extending north to the Queensland border, at the town of Wallangarra. The Main North Line (also known as the Great Northern Railway) runs through the Central Coast, Hunter and the New England regions. The line was the original main line between Sydney and Brisbane, however this required a change of gauge at Wallangarra. The line is now closed north of Armidale, and the main route between Brisbane and Sydney is now the North Coast line.
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 NSW and made biannual trips to Tenterfield to inspect his holdings there, which covered 100,000 acres (400 km2) of unfenced land. The township was gazetted in 1851 with allotments being sold in 1854. In 1858 gold was discovered at Drake (Fairfield) and shortly afterwards at Timbarra and Boonoo Boonoo. During 1859 an AJS Bank opened and an Anglican Church was built the following year. 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. In 1870 the population was less than 900, but the town had five hotels, a school of arts and three churches. The existing Tenterfield Post Office was constructed in 1881.
In February 1886 it was announced that the successful contractor for the erection of the station buildings at Tenterfield was William Murray. Murray also undertook to provide a goods shed, an engine shed, foundations for an engine tank, a pumping engine house, an engine store, a coal stage, a 50 ft turntable pit, and various sheep and cattle races. On the 1st of September 1886 the line to Tenterfield was opened for business. By 1891 the engine driver's barracks had been completed, the last of the array of railway buildings and structures on the site (GBA; 2007).
The site comprised a locomotive depot, demolished in 1968, consisting of an engine shed; barracks, sign-on office, coal stage, turntable, loading dock and goods shed, which are still extant on site; and water columns and tanks, sand sheds, ash pits and oil/equipment store which no longer exist. The original locomotive shed was constructed in 1886 and was replaced by a new one on the same site in 1908.
The railway facilities at Tenterfield changed little over the next century. The only structural addition to the passenger station before World War I was an extension of the platform in 1907. In 1960 the station master's residence and the passenger station were connected to reticulated sewer system, but this was the only major work carried out in the station area. However, the buildings were modified to suit modern tastes. Old buildings were stripped of their decorative excesses to make them seem a little more modern. Thus, by 1965 Tenterfield Passenger Station had lost its wrought iron finials, timber pendants and fretted gable end decorations (GBA; 2007).
By the 1960s, the Tenterfield locomotive depot was becoming redundant with steam being rapidly phased out and diesel technology not requiring an infrastructure of locomotive depots. There was certainly no need for extensive service facilities at Tenterfield and no need for such facilities as ash pits, coal stages, and water tanks. On 8 June 1968, with the end of steam operations on the Northern Line, the locomotive shed at Tenterfield was demolished (GBA; 2007).
The development of the North Coast line resulted in a slow decline for Tenterfield, as passengers preferred the more direct route to Brisbane. The decline was most profound in the late 1950s and by November 1988 the last mail/passenger train left Tenterfield. On 17 July 1989, the State Rail Authority of NSW (StateRail) announced the pending closure of Tenterfield Railway Station, a decision that was effected on 30 November 1990. In 1991 the Tenterfield Railway Preservation Society was formed, and in 1992 a Heritage Museum was opened at the site (GBA; 2007). In 2007, the Office of Rail Heritage, Rail Corporation NSW, assumed management of seven key rail heritage precincts, which included Tenterfield.
Tenterfield and Tenterfield railway station were associated with a number of historical events in Australia’s history:
- 1889 - Sir Henry Parkes delivered his famous Tenterfield speech calling for Federation before departing on a special train to Sydney. The speech at the School of Arts is regarded as a significant event in the lead-up to Federation;
- 1919 - a quarantine facility was set up in Tenterfield during the influenza pandemic;
- 1942 - During World War II, Tenterfield was earmarked as a key battleground if the Japanese should invade Australia. During 1942 thousands of soldiers were set up in emergency camps, unbeknown to the locals, to cope with such an event. Minor changes were made to the railway barracks for Defence requirements. |