Jennings - NSW

The ‘twin towns’ of Jennings in NSW and Wallangarra in QLD are separated by an impressive Victorian-era railway station built exactly on the state border, which became a busy rail interchange in the late 1800s. Each state used a different rail gauge, which meant that passengers had to disembark at the station and change trains in order to travel through the neighbouring state.

The line is no longer operational, and the railway station now acts as an interactive heritage museum, café and function centre.

Jennings is only 5.5 km from the stunning Mount Norman walk, and offers easy access to Girraween National Park, a naturalist’s paradise, offering visitors a vast array of rock formations to discover, walking and mountain bike tracks to explore, calming waterholes and creeks to relax beside, and an abundance of wildlife to meet. Challenge yourself to conquer the highest peak in the Park, Mount Norman, accessible from Wallangarra. Mount Norman Road also offers exciting 4WD opportunities for thrill seekers and adventure chasers.

A visit to Jennings is not complete without a meal and catch up with the locals at the Jennings Hotel, which also offers motel rooms and free camping.

The Queensland Main Roads Commission built an Ammunition Depot for the Australian Army at Jennings (NSW) near Wallangarra (QLD) during WW2. This was known as the 1 Advanced Ammunition Depot (1AAD).
Some buildings were built with the assistance of the Tenterfield Shire Council on the New South Wales side of the border in one depot area.
Five semi-underground ammunition shelters were initially constructed. At a later stage ten timber structures and seventy Williams huts were erected. Some other buildings were also erected by separate contractors. The whole area was fenced. Roads within the depot area and a bitumen-sealed road from the depot to the special two-gauge railway siding were also constructed. Minimum clearing of trees was permitted in the area to help camouflage the depot from aerial reconnaissance.Whilst there was some confusion by the NSW authorities in the early years whether to call their side of the railway station Wallangarra or Jennings, they finally settled on Wallangarra around April 1904. Hence there is no Jennings Railway Station.
During WW2 thousands of Allied troops passed through Wallangarra Railway Station on their way north or south. Due to wartime secrecy arrangements, railway staff were only given about 2 hours notice of the arrival of a troop train. This gave the dedicated railway staff enough time to cook and serve on arrival, hearty meals of sausages, mashed potato and gravy. A file exists in the National Archives Australia about and explosion at the 36 Australian Employment Company (utilising Javanese POW's / internees and German prisoners of war) at Wallangarra.