Yesterday marked the end of an era for the Kent family, which has owned the historic Jondaryan Station, west of Toowoomba, for more than 150 years.

Jondaryan Station's story began in 1840, and with the addition of the woolshed eventually became the centre of a great pastoral empire on Queensland's Darling Downs.

William Kent took over management of the station in 1858 and was the mastermind behind the creation of the Woolshed at Jondaryan, as it is known today.

Three generations later, the station has always been run by Kent family descendants.

But this weekend, William's great-great-great-grandson Tony Elliott took the final step towards handing the property over to a new owner.

There were lots of old trucks up for auction at Jondaryan Station. ( ABC Southern Queensland: Sophie Volker )

One man's trash is another's treasure

In a final clearance of Jondaryan Station, 156 years of memorabilia, machinery and memories were up for sale to finally clear the sheds.

About 300 people attended the clearance sale, where items of all sorts were up for auction.

Mr Elliott said he had made the decision to sell because his family had moved on from agriculture and working on the land.

Tony Elliott is saying goodbye to the station. ( ABC Southern Queensland: Sophie Volker )

He said it was a case of one man's trash being another man's treasure, with items such as old machinery, farming tools, tractors and furniture being auctioned at high prices.

"People are buying things that you would never expect them to buy for quite a bit of money — hundreds of dollars," he said.

"Yet down in the John Deere header parts, there are things there worth $5,000 that went for $50, which is fairly disappointing.

"It's a passing of history, an end of an era, and as such, people are finding that interesting."

This old trailer was auctioned off. ( ABC Southern Queensland: Sophie Volker )

Like 'watching your childhood be sold'

Mr Elliott's daughter Claire Elliott said it was an emotional day because she had grown up on the homestead.

"I have already cried today. It's been like watching your childhood be sold," she said.

"But it's also been really good because it's been really successful for my father and our family.

"It's the end of a really long chapter in our family's life."

Antoinette Rowland (L), Claire Elliott and Orlando Rowland wanted to keep great-grandmother Marjorie Kent's weaving suitcase. ( ABC Southern Queensland: Sophie Volker )

Ms Elliott's children, Orlando and Antoinette, had their eyes on a suitcase that had belonged to their great-grandmother, Marjorie Kent.

The suitcase was still full of all her old weaving equipment, which Orlando hoped to take home for himself.

Bright future ahead for station

While the clearance sale marks the end of the Kent family's involvement, the Jondaryan Homestead and surrounding farming land will continue to run as a sheep station and cotton farm.

"The exporting around here is really big — they're doing a lot of exporting to Japan, which is really exciting," Ms Elliott said.

"Not too much will change [with the sale], but I guess it's just that our family isn't linked to it anymore.

"There's a change in our connection to the land now, which is a big thing for us."