‘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"
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
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
Comment by Andy Thompson on August 15, 2011 at 10:28
Well, glad to have rattled the old grey cells Barry! It's amazing how little is discernible in 2011. Without people who were there, no-one would ever know!!
Glad you asked the question about this photo. After studying the OS map and the plan of the quarry in 'Ironstone Tramways of the Midlands' (ITM), I discovered that I had printed it as a mirror image many years ago in our darkened bathroom! I have flipped it and added it the correct way round. I deleted the original which also deleted your comment - sorry!
If you look at the corrected image you can see Byfield church to the right. Behind the loco to the left is the smoke vent on top of the loco shed and to the left of that is the bridge which carried an unsurfaced track to Aston-le-Walls - known to locals as 'Stony Bump' - over the track between the quarry and the SMJ. I think the loco is standing on the points just above the word 'gate' on the ITM map of the quarry and the track furthest to the right is the SMJ main line.
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