‘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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NEW BOOK ON THE SMJ - AVAILABLE SHORTLY 24 Replies

Hi allI'm pleased to announce that the first volume of my history of…Continue

Started by Barry Taylor. Last reply by John Evans Dec 1.

John Jennings

Following the sad loss of John Jennings, a stalwart of the SMJ and our society, Mike Musson set up a page on his site. The whole sit is well worth a visit as it overlaps with us here at the SMJ society Go take a look…Continue

Started by Andy Thompson Nov 28.

The SMJR Great War Roll of Honour 12 Replies

Many of you will be aware that in common with all other railway companies the SMJR lost many of its employees for all or part of the Great War as the patriotic duty to volunteer was overwhelming. Railwaymen were technically exempt but many chose to…Continue

Tags: of, Honour, Roll, War, SMJR

Started by John Jennings. Last reply by Jim Brown Nov 23.

Warley Poster

Interesting to see Broom Junction layout photo on posters and adverts for the Warley Model Railway Show this weekend.Continue

Started by Dick Bodily Nov 21.

SMJ photos

Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway Jody Iosias

I just found on Amazon Japan the book Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway by Jody Iosias. Apparently it’s worth around £ 30

I’ve never heard of this book nor of the writer before.

Is there anybody out there who could advise me on this book

Jack

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Permalink Reply by Barry Taylor on June 24, 2016 at 13:03

Hi Jack

I think that this is just an internet produced re-hash of previously published material on the SMJ.

If you have a look around (on Ebay in particular) there are others - I've seen "books" advertised on Ettington and Kineton stations for example, and the "authors" always have somewhat strange sounding names!

A friend of mine purchased a similar thing a year or so ago that purported to be on The Watermills of Northamptonshire - it was, but it was a mere cut & paste re-hash job of information which he already had in several other places.

Probably best avoided - my own history of the SMJ is at the publishers now, and Vol 1 should be out early next year - I hope that it will prove a better buy!!

REgards

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Permalink Reply by Dick Bodily on June 24, 2016 at 18:08

Jack

Usually these so called books that Barry mentioned are simply copied entries from Wikipedia or even lifted from articles on websites such as this one. Often they charge much more, even £100 plus hoping to catch out the unwary. My advice .. don't buy! If it was a genuine researched work then it would have been reviewed in the railway press.

Dick

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Permalink Reply by Peter S Lewis on June 24, 2016 at 23:53

The synopsis of this book..a new one to me(!) on Abe Books website is rather telling.."Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online"..and a look at an Amazon page . http://www.amazon.co.uk/Iosias-Jody/e/B00JCWM4SI shows the author to be quite prolific...looks like a "copy and paste" merchant..