‘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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magnet fishing

Hi everyone, yesterday I did some magnet fishing with the grandchildren from the SMJ bridge over the river Tove in Towester, to great excitement of the children (and myself) we pulled out three chair screws and a rivet which looked similar in style…Continue

Started by Steve Camm Sep 1.

One of the best preserved SMJ bridges? 1 Reply

I was at Ettington the other day and apart from the good shed, which has had a lot of money spent on it including full glazing, the station building is still there. But my attention went to the station bridge (No. 73?) which is in very good…Continue

Started by John Evans. Last reply by Andy Thompson Aug 30.

Passenger Trains connected to the SMJ

Following on from the previous discussion about WD passenger trains on the SMJ during the 1940s; it must be said that passenger trains ran on metals connected to the SMJ until the mid 1960s. There was a passenger service from the nearest point to…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward Jun 16.

Wartime passenger trains from Burton Dassett 3 Replies

Arthur Jordan in his book, The Stratford Upon Avon and Midland Junction Railway - The Shakespeare Route at pp 82 mentions a WW2 late night special from Stratford on Avon to Burton Dassett for soldiers at the CAD. I would envisage that this did not…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward. Last reply by Dave Hayward Jun 16.

SMJ photos

Ravenstone Wood Junction.

Hi All. I've joined up after an internet search looking for information regarding Ravenstone Wood Junction. It has come to light that there were sidings here. Did they link to the army depot?

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Permalink Reply by Si Donal on March 15, 2012 at 17:13

Hello Richard,

There were no sidings at Ravenstone Wood Junction itself. There were sidings to into the Army Depot but they were located at Piddington on the Bedford - Northampton (ex Midland) line. They were not far away at all form the SMJ line but not directly connected. This end of the SMJ is well covered in this month's Railway Bylines magazine and Ravenstone Wood Junction features in a few pictures and maps.

Regards

Simon

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Permalink Reply by Richard Pike on March 15, 2012 at 18:57

13 points were trailing from the up main worked with a trap, also numbered 13 and protected by 14, a miniature semaphore. On the plan i have seen this siding splits into two, one shown as going to stops and the one furthest from the up main continuing on.

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Permalink Reply by Barry Taylor on March 16, 2012 at 17:22

Hi Richard

Just to add to Si's recent reply, there was in fact a connection into the Army depot from the Ravenstone Wood Junction end too - but only from around 1939 until the end of the war after which it was removed. Presumably this was as a wartime contingency, just in case the usual access near at Piddington station became blocked for any reason. The Army sidings were very extensive and stretched right up towards Ravenstone Wood, so the connection was presumably very easy to install. It may well have been controlled by the signal box there - it would be interesting to know if there were spare levers in the frame that could have accommodated this - otherwise it may have had a temporary ground frame.

Regards