‘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"
.
SMJ Forum
PPhoto Albums 1 Reply
AndyAbout two years ago I ended up with some railway matter from a Bill Kendall who had been a Signalman on SMJ ending his railway career at Northampton No 1. I worked with him when I was working in Rugby PSB, I also covered the signa?l boxes at…Continue
Started by Robin Leslie Patrick. Last reply by Dave Hayward on Monday.
Wartime passenger trains from Burton Dassett
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 on Sunday.
Broom Junction station site for sale 3 Replies
Great opportunity for an SMJ enthusiast perhaps. I'm not sure what you could actually do with this site though!…Continue
Started by Simon Stevens. Last reply by Simon Stevens May 17.
National Archives, Donation and Kineton Photograph
Not sure if others are aware of the significant amount of documents held by the National Archives on the SMJ. The collection consists mainly of Directors Minutes etc. There is also a collection of early 20th C timetables, handbills etc. which I have…Continue
Started by Dave Hayward Apr 26.
SMJ photos
Welcombe Hotel (Stratford upon Avon) Advert
My dad was rummaging through old magazines. This was in one of the old Punch Magazines. It's dated 30 Mar 1932, just after the Ro-Railer experiment.
Albums: Memoribilia, SMJ Documents, Stratford upon Avon
Add a Comment
-
Comment by John Jennings on January 15, 2010 at 21:38
-
My full account of the Ro-railer is elsewhere on this site. It did not enter pubic service until 23.4.32 but it is fair to assume that it would have been around for training runs in the preceding weeks. The advert therfore just pre-dates the Ro-railer "experiment"!
-
Comment by Si Donal on January 15, 2010 at 10:40
-
There are also copies of a set of hand coloured or sepia postcards that come up on Ebay, marketing Stratford. If I recall they are LNWR so the SMJ would have provided the means to get there! I'll keep a look out for them again, and get a set if they're cheap enough.
-
-
Of course, go for it. I am interested into why this hotel was so favoured by the LMS, especially as they had a hotel chain of their own. Was it a formal partnership I wonder because that would justify the expense of the Ro-Railer experiment. Or perhaps just mutually beneficial.
-
-
I stayed one night at this hotel in about 1996.
I was surprised (in view of its railway connections) as to how far out from Stratford it is.
Peter
-
Comment by Andy Thompson on January 14, 2010 at 20:34
-
Vic We'd love it if you could! If that's OK Si? Andy
-
Comment by Stratford Bike Hire on January 14, 2010 at 20:11
-
Great picture. I know a couple of the managers at the Welcome, I will forwrd it to them. You never know they might be able to dig up something for you from their records
Vic
Stratford BIke Hire
-
-
The Welcome Hotel, originally built in 1866 is a very interesting aside to the SMJ story; being bought from the Trevelyan family, being tied up as it is with the Ro-railer which ran from the Old Town station to the hotel, all be it briefly - I'd love more if anyone has any
Andy
© 2026 Created by Andy Thompson.
Powered by
You need to be a member of The SMJ Society to add comments!
Join The SMJ Society