‘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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BLAKESLEY and an SMJ stamp

This item has come up in an auction recently and is a glimpse of the practice of carrying mail by train. Apart from the SMJ…Continue

Started by Graham Ward Nov 14.

Further about Ravenstone Wood Junction 1 Reply

Firstly a belated thanks to Barry for his excellent research that has returned these signal lever plates to their rightful home! [Perhaps their place of residence on the website needs changing!] Apologies for starting s new Forum discussion on this…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward. Last reply by Barry Taylor Oct 23.

Ravenstone Wood Junction Signal Box-an anomaly 3 Replies

Closely examining the brass lever plates shown in the Olney Line entry in the Index Section of this website I noticed a significant anomaly. Some of the above plates, specifically 1, 10, 11, 12, 25, 32, 34. refer to platforms, loading dock, goods…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward. Last reply by Barry Taylor Oct 9.

SMJ keys from the Towcester area 1 Reply

I have been contacted by someone who wishes to dispose of two sets of SMJ-related keys from the Towcester area, but does not want to put personal email or other details on this website. They have been given to him by the estate manager at Easton…Continue

Started by Barry Taylor. Last reply by Barry Taylor Sep 4.

SMJ photos

All Blog Posts (26)

My SMJ memories

I’ve just joined your group, having been pointed to you following Andy Thompson’s article in the January 2009 edition of Steam Days, a magazine which crossed my desk recently.

I was born in 1940 and grew up at Eastcote, a small village near Towcester. My first experience of the SMJ was when I was about 6 or 7, my best mate and I walked the 4 miles to the Blisworth overbridge adjacent to where the SMJ turntable was and peered through the fence at the small signalbox, the…

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Added by John Whitehead on March 10, 2011 at 19:23 — No Comments

Line tour thoughts.

I'd know I put some of this on the discussion thread but once again I would just like to thank my fellow "Tourists" for yet another enjoyable day out and to appologise for the 5 minute walk that was just a little longer and involved a bit of a backtrack (no pun intended).

Just in case anyone is wondering; we have removed nothing that we have found during our tours to date (save a singular lump of coal) only taking photos of any artifacts in situ as we…

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Added by Gary on February 28, 2011 at 22:00 — 3 Comments

Todays tour

Thanks Gary for organising another interesting day out despite the rain. Same good company as usual. I think it gets better each trip!

Alwyn.

Added by alwyn sparrow on February 26, 2011 at 20:08 — 1 Comment

The SMJ has always been of interest to me. When I was in my early teens I would travel to Blisworth fom Northampton by train to collect train numbers and was always attracted to that train which went…

The SMJ has always been of interest to me. When I was in my early teens I would travel to Blisworth fom Northampton by train to collect train numbers and was always attracted to that train which went up the branch line through the trees towards Towcester. I never went on the train and of course I never will.

I went to the Stoke Bruene Canal Weekend recently and came across your stand tucked away in a corner next to the NDMRC stand. I became aware then of the SMJ Society. The other…

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Added by William E. (Bill) Latchford on August 10, 2010 at 12:00 — No Comments

Evesham Road Box 1960 - 1965 Working the Triangle

03.04 The New Triangle.doc

Added by John Jennings on July 20, 2009 at 14:28 — No Comments

Watling Street Bridge

Ive been interested in the SMJ since I moved to the area in 1996. I have never seen a photo of the Watling Street Bridge, taken from the road and I wonder whether it was interesting or even of architectural interest. I assume it must have been large enough to allow buses and lorries to pass. If anyone can shed any light on this I would be interested.

Ian

Added by Ian Taylor on April 14, 2009 at 0:00 — 1 Comment