‘The Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway’ (or S.M.J.) was a small independent railway company which ran a line across the empty, untouched centre of England. It visited the counties of Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and a little of Buckinghamshire, only existing as the SMJ from 1909 to 1923. In 1923 the S.M.J.became a minor arm of the London Midland and Scottish (L.M.S.), then in 1948 'British Railways' 

Gone but not forgotten: "the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth"


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SMJ Forum

SMJ seats at York Museum ?

I took my grandson to the National Railway Museum on Dec. 30th and noticed two bench seats, of the type found on station platforms until traditional stations were replaced with bus-shelters. Both bear the title " STRATFORD " - I'll try and upload…Continue

Started by Paul Atherton 20 hours ago.

More building at Towcester 2 Replies

I hear there has been more building at the station site in Towcester.Anyone know what they've dug up?…Continue

Tags: Towcester

Started by Andy Thompson. Last reply by Nigel Nov 7, 2024.

Broom History Group Event 9th November 2024

Broom History Group will be holding an event at Broom Village Hall 2-4pm on 9th November 2024 including a film on the railway and Broom Junction.…Continue

Started by Simon Stevens Oct 25, 2024.

Misunderstanding Easton Neston 2 Replies

Hello, I'm a new member and I've searched through the articles and can't find anything specific to my answer/ question. Can anyone help?…Continue

Started by Matt Davis. Last reply by Matt Davis Oct 16, 2024.

SMJ photos

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I've uploaded a couple of pages from a 1964 train register book i have..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/32297024@N08/24706598791/

What was the status of the lines around Towcester at this time? How far did they go? There is atrain signalled by the code 2-2-3. This suggests it stopped at an intermediate siding. Where was this?

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Although official closure from Blisworth Ironstone to Woodford West was 3rd February 1964 it is believed that the Woodford West pickup and Byfield ironstone trains stopped running about a month earlier.  2-2-3 code might have involved collecting wagons stored on the former Olney branch. Is this the last page with entries?

The last entry is 8 November 1964. The later the entry the less detailed it is. Some entries have notes like 'materials' and the are other comments like Ravenstone Wood line.

Richard,

 Between the closure and 8th November the track was being progressively lifted westwards from the Blisworth end by PW trains accessing the closed line by reversal at Woodford West Junction. The trains were hauled by Woodford's 8Fs.Typically they would head off from Woodford early morning and return around teatime.Picture shows one such train passing Blakesley wrong line returning to Woodford.  Presumably there is a gap in the records after the official closure before these workings commenced and such workings would have continued after 8th November as track was lifted further west than Towcester.

Dick

There is not much written about what happened to lines after closure. I'd always imagined Blisworth being the point rails retreated to but Woodford makes sense. It was almost dead itself and lots of spare capacity.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/32297024@N08/10287235596/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/32297024@N08/10306386253/

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