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Wallangarra
Queensland
Wallangarra (1).JPG
Border "gates" at Wallangarra
Wallangarra is located in Queensland
Wallangarra
Wallangarra
Location in Queensland
Population 468 (2016 census locality)
 • Density 12.683/km2 (32.85/sq mi)
Established 1885
Postcode(s) 4383
Elevation 875 m (2,871 ft)
Area 36.9 km2 (14.2 sq mi)
Time zone AEST (UTC+10:00)
LGA(s) Southern Downs Region
County Bentinck
Parish Tenterfield
State electorate(s) Southern Downs
Federal Division(s) Maranoa
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
20.8 °C
69 °F
8.6 °C
47 °F
781 mm
30.7 in
Localities around Wallangarra:
Ballandean Wyberba Girraween
Ballandean Wallangarra Jennings (NSW)
Ballandean Tarban (NSW) Jennings (NSW)

Wallangarra is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Wallangarra had a population of 468 people.

It is the third most southerly town in Queensland, 258 kilometres (160 mi) south west of Brisbane. Wallangarra is on the Queensland side of the border and Jennings is on the New South Wales side.

Geography

Wallangarra lies in a valley between two ranges of mountains, which each are branches of the Great Dividing Range. It is 878 m above sea level. There is a gap between the more Westerly range at Wyberba, about five kilometres north of Wallangarra. This gap has made Wallangarra the major inland border crossing for the New England Highway and what was the first railway line between Brisbane and Sydney.

Climate

Wallangarra Post Office, 2015
Climate data is recorded at the Wallangarra Post Office

Wallangarra is one of the coldest towns in Queensland, due to its altitude and extreme southerly location in the state. Maximum temperatures rarely rise above 15 °C (59 °F) in winter or above 30 °C (86 °F) in summer. Wallangarra holds the record for the lowest maximum temperature in Queensland, 2.4 °C (36 °F) on 3 July 1984. Despite this, minimum temperatures are not as low due to local geographic variations, and towns well to the north such as Warwick and Oakey frequently record lower minimums.


Climate data for Wallangarra Post Office
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 36.2
(97.2)
34.3
(93.7)
31.7
(89.1)
34.5
(94.1)
24.5
(76.1)
20.7
(69.3)
20.4
(68.7)
25.9
(78.6)
28.1
(82.6)
32.6
(90.7)
35.0
(95.0)
36.0
(96.8)
36.2
(97.2)
Average high °C (°F) 26.6
(79.9)
25.4
(77.7)
24.1
(75.4)
21.1
(70.0)
17.5
(63.5)
14.5
(58.1)
13.9
(57.0)
15.3
(59.5)
18.4
(65.1)
21.5
(70.7)
24.3
(75.7)
26.6
(79.9)
20.8
(69.4)
Average low °C (°F) 14.7
(58.5)
14.7
(58.5)
13.1
(55.6)
9.3
(48.7)
5.7
(42.3)
3.0
(37.4)
2.0
(35.6)
2.7
(36.9)
5.2
(41.4)
8.3
(46.9)
11.0
(51.8)
13.3
(55.9)
8.6
(47.5)
Record low °C (°F) 7.7
(45.9)
6.1
(43.0)
3.0
(37.4)
−1.5
(29.3)
−3.7
(25.3)
−5.6
(21.9)
−5.1
(22.8)
−4.5
(23.9)
−3.7
(25.3)
−2.7
(27.1)
1.7
(35.1)
5.4
(41.7)
−5.6
(21.9)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 101.7
(4.00)
85.4
(3.36)
68.2
(2.69)
38.2
(1.50)
44.7
(1.76)
47.5
(1.87)
50.4
(1.98)
40.6
(1.60)
47.8
(1.88)
75.6
(2.98)
81.1
(3.19)
99.8
(3.93)
781
(30.74)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2mm) 9.3 8.8 8.0 6.1 6.6 6.9 6.8 6.3 6.4 8.0 8.7 9.6 91.5
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

A railway heritage

Wallangarra Railway
Wallangarra station which is listed on the Register of the National Estate. Note the different style of awnings and the Queensland side compare to the New South Wales side

The town was created to service a break-of-gauge between Queensland's narrow gauge Southern railway line of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) and New South Wales's standard gauge Main North railway line of 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm) when the two systems came together in 1888. The railway was the only rail link between Queensland and New South Wales until a standard gauge track was completed in 1932, with the completion of the bridge at Grafton. From that time on, the Wallangarra station lessened in importance. All scheduled rail services stopped in 1997. In 2003, after major refurbishment, the station was reopened as a museum.

The railway line from Stanthorpe to Wallangarra has continued to be maintained and steam trains taking tourists to Wallangarra occasionally operate.

Despite being declared as Wallangarra, the station itself has the Queensland name boards hyphenated as Wallan-Garra.

Preceding station   NSW Main lines   Following station
Terminus Template:NSW Country lines lines
Template:NSW Country lines stations
toward Template:NSW Country lines stations

Heritage listings

Wallangarra has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Riverina Stock Feeds

Taking advantage of the rail junction Riverina Stock Feeds operated a packing plant opposite the Wallangarra railway station for many years until 1995. After that it moved to Warwick, a city 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the north. Warwick also has a major Woolworths warehouse. Interestingly the Chairman of Woolworths who located the warehouse at Warwick grew up in Wallangarra.

Abattoirs

The Anderson Meat Packing Company was re-started by Mr. A.W. Anderson in 1938 after a 15 month closure. Until 1982 it operated a large beef abattoir at Wallangarra. Anderson's employed in excess of 400 workers at the Wallangarra plant. The plant was located on the border so as to take advantage of rail lines from both Queensland and NSW.

After this closed the town's future looked dim. Ten years later, Thomas Foods International opened Australia's largest mutton works opened on a new site just to the east of the town. The mutton produced is Halal, and most of it is exported to Arab countries. The abattoir shut down in July 2016 for "the short to medium term" blaming low stock numbers and poor global trading conditions.

Wallangarra Dam

Drive out along Margetts St, over the railway bridge, past the Rugby League grounds and out past the army. From there follow Old Paling Yard Road up the foot hills of Mt Norman. There you will find a water treatment plant and a road branch to the left going down to Beehive dam. Beehive dam is in the mountains, and fed by a spring. It is a beautiful place for a picnic.

Attractions

Wallangarra is situated on the picturesque Granite Belt, and is bounded by Sundown National Park to the West and Girraween National Park to the East.

Facilities

Wallangarra cemetery, 2015
Wallangarra cemetery, 2015

The Wallangarra cemetery is in McCall Street.

Economy

As of 2013, the Wallangarra Stores Depot remains a major Australian Army logistics facility. It is used to store a wide range of engineering and general equipment, clothing, and tents. Bulk fuel storage handling apparatus are also held at the site. The munitions storage facility is also still active in Jennings.

Education

Wallangarra State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 50 Callandoon Street (28°55′06″S 151°55′53″E / 28.9184°S 151.9313°E / -28.9184; 151.9313 (Wallangarra State School)). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 76 students with 4 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent).

There is no secondary school in Wallangarra. The nearest government secondary school is Stanthorpe State High School in Stanthorpe to the north-east.

Notable former residents

Rugby league legend Billy Moore lived in Wallangarra as a child. He is best known for playing for the North Sydney Bears and the Queensland State of Origin team. He was born in Tenterfield, New South Wales as this was the closest hospital.

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