Layouts based on actual SMJR locations are few and far between. Due to being given notice on clubroom, Olney as featured in BRM Sept 2023 is for sale!This is a rare opportunity to acquire a beautiful, 15 years in the making, ready to run model…Continue
Started by Nicholas Young 7 hours ago.
Hi all members.I was wondering if you could help by subscribing to my YouTube channel ‘NWP EXPLORING’ Mainly railway history and some exploring the SMJ .im planning to explore and video more of the SMJ , and if you have a desired area you would…Continue
Started by Neil. Last reply by Henry Jul 10.
An improbable, funny, but absolutely true story relating to the Kineton military railway.Long after my Army days I still retained an affection and passing interest in Kineton ammunition depot where I served during the 1960s. Coupled to a 'love' of…Continue
Started by Dave Hayward. Last reply by Henry Jul 10.
RAIB Report 04/2024: Runaway wagon at KinetonContinue
Started by Simon Stevens. Last reply by Andy Thompson Jul 10.
The East & West Junction railway (E&W) proposed a new
line from a junction with the Northampton & Banbury
Junction
Railway at Greens Norton to Stratford Upon Avon.
In 1864 Lady Palmerson came and cut the first sod. The
E&W became a part of
the SMJ in January 1st, 1909.
From the mid-nineteenth century on-wards railways reached
Stratford from all directions. From the south in 1859 came The
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, from the north in
1860
came the Stratford Railway and from the east in 1873, came the
East
and West Junction, (E&W) laterly pushing on from Stratford
west
to Broom on the Evesham & Reditch line. The E&W was to
become part of the Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction
Railway company (SMJ) by 1909.
Station plan 1885
The first section of the E&W to open was the Fenny Compton
to Kineton section on 1st June 1871 followed by the Kineton to
Stratford upon Avon section on 1st July 1873 The E&W was to
eventually provide a link between Greens Norton Junction near
Towcester although the E&W was so under-used that the
meager
two trains a day each way were temporarily suspended in 1877
when
E&W passenger services were suspended altogether.
Station plan 1960
At Stratford, even the GWR, a company never one to miss out on a
bid to remove a local competitor ignored the E&W, its
thought
because of its parlous financial state. They were to offer
exchange
sidings facilities with their Birmingham to Gloucester line at
Stratford despite the E&W offering a rivalry to the GWR's
Stratford upon Avon station a short distance away.
The SMJ's main (and really only shed - save for the short-lived
Towcester and Blisworth sheds) was housed at Stratford.
21D,with
its turntable was a sub-shed of 21A. Saltley in Birmingham and
was
where the SMJ's locos were serviced, coaled and turned if
needed,
even the locos from the Edgehill Light Railway saw time at 21D.
Sited opposite the SMJ station, the down platform being right
along
side the shed; with its familiar vented roofs it features as an
unintended addition to many existing Stratford station photos.
Adding to the station sites large size; it was, like the
station
itself all gone by the mid 60's. Ever keen to steal a march on
the
competitors, namely the G.W.R, the L.M.S. thought to tap into
Stratford-Upon-Avon’s tourist potential. The line was pushed as
'The Shakespeare route', they bought a large country house from
the
Trevelyan family near Stratford naming it the ‘Welcome Hotel’.
They
introduced specials from Blisworth, running evening specials to
connect at Blisworth and so onto London. In 1932 the LMS offered
a
unique service when they introduced the short-lived ‘Ro-Railer’,
a
half bus, half train experiment
The station, the line infact the company did well to keep going
until its closure to passengers in 1952. Ironically, the
Stratford
end of the SMJ faired best under the resurgence of goods traffic,
a
new curve being intalled in the 60's to further improve through
running. The SMJ's presence at Stratford had to end. By the
time
the Queen Mothers train arrived at the former SMJ station in
1964
for a visit - for which the platform was specially resurfaced
causing some consternation amongst railway workers and locals
alike, it had been 12 years since the station has seen a
scheduled
passenger service.
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