‘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'

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Loco N° 5. 2-4-0T 1 Reply

Hi everybodyI’m building a OO gauge model of Fenny Compton and Clifford Sidings over here in Belgium.Quite a strange idea but so be it…In view of this I plan to transform a RTR Beatie Well Tank into SMJR N° 5 the 2-4-0T and use some etchings for the…Continue

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SMJ photos

Loco N° 5. 2-4-0T

Hi everybody

I’m building a OO gauge model of Fenny Compton and Clifford Sidings over here in Belgium.

Quite a strange idea but so be it…

In view of this I plan to transform a RTR Beatie Well Tank into SMJR N° 5 the 2-4-0T and use some etchings for the body I got from Peter Dawson.

The overall dimensions are similar enough to represent an acceptable loco.

The question is:

The Beatie Well Tank has outside cylinders which can be removed
SMJR N°s 5 & 6 were made by Beyer Peacock and had inside cylinders.
All the information I can dig out on Beyer Peacock locos show their 2-4-0 Tanks with outside cylinders similar to the Isle of Man engine.

This seems also to be often the case with the 0-6-0 tender locos.

Were the E&WJR and SMJR locos specials?

I find no trace of their purchase in the manufacturing records of Beyer Peacock.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Best regards

Jack

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Permalink Reply by Simon Dunkley on March 17, 2025 at 18:23

Hi Jack,

The EWJR locos were part of an order for three locos by the Swindon, Marlborough and Andoversford Railway (later part of the MSWJR), to be numbers 8, 9 and 10. The SMA could only afford 1 of the three locos, and the other two remained with the builders, who offered them to the EWJR. They were complete (numer 10 was even photographed in photographic grey ready for delivery to the SMA), needing only fitting with Westinghouse pumps and associated pipes, and the removal of the vacuum ejector.

Drawings of the SMA/MSWJR loco appeared in and old Model Railway News, and also the relevant Mike Barnsley book on the MSWJ.

As they were not ordered by the EWJR, this may explain why you. Can’t find records.

I would say that these locos were quite a bit bigger than the Bettie well-tanks.