‘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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SMJ Forum
Bridge sign 3 Replies
An East and West Junction and Stratford-On-Avon, Towcester and Midland Junction Railways bridge weight notice, cast iron, 16½"x11¾", the front repainted. As is usual, the company title has been altered to Stratford-On-Avon and Midland Junction…Continue
Started by Graham Ward. Last reply by Russ Firth Jun 1.
SMJ Postage stamps 1911 and 1924
A couple of items recently up for auction.GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY COMPANY AND STRATFORD-UPON-AVON & MIDLAND JUNCTION: 6…Continue
Started by Graham Ward May 21.
More building at Towcester 3 Replies
I hear there has been more building at the station site in Towcester.Anyone know what they've dug up?…Continue
Tags: Towcester
Started by Andy Thompson. Last reply by John Evans Apr 19.
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
Started by Jack Freuville. Last reply by Simon Dunkley Mar 17.
SMJ photos
The Roade Connection
There seem to be several big questions about the SMJ.
- Tiffield station: did it exist, for how long and where exactly was it?
- Why build stations at Salcey Forest and Stoke Bruerne, and why such substantial buildings?
- But the biggest one seems to be the connection to Roade.
Why was this built and to what extent was it ever used?
It seems that there was a chord, there is evidence for it. It seems also that there was a bay platform constructed at Roade station, but there was no physical rail connection with the LNWR.
If the passenger service from Towcester to Olney only lasted intermittently for 4 months what about the Roade service. Would the “main line” services have reversed in and out of Roade?
And what real purpose did it serve, bearing in mind that there were much better connections with the LNWR at Blisworth. (I appreciate that the S T & M J and N & B were different companies at the time that the Roade spur was built). I understand there was a lime quarry at Roade which may have provided traffic
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Henry on
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According to locals, the Tiffield halt was a milk stop really and there seems to be little doubt that it was positioned on the embankment at the back of what is now a row of houses at Meadow Rise.
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According to BarryTaylor in his excellent pair of books on the SMJ the bay platform at Roade although fully signalled from the SMJ cabin at the top of the chord line was never used by any passenger train due to early withdrawal of the passenger service. Its possible that an occasional inspection train may have used it though.
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