‘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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magnet fishing

Hi everyone, yesterday I did some magnet fishing with the grandchildren from the SMJ bridge over the river Tove in Towester, to great excitement of the children (and myself) we pulled out three chair screws and a rivet which looked similar in style…Continue

Started by Steve Camm Sep 1.

One of the best preserved SMJ bridges? 1 Reply

I was at Ettington the other day and apart from the good shed, which has had a lot of money spent on it including full glazing, the station building is still there. But my attention went to the station bridge (No. 73?) which is in very good…Continue

Started by John Evans. Last reply by Andy Thompson Aug 30.

Passenger Trains connected to the SMJ

Following on from the previous discussion about WD passenger trains on the SMJ during the 1940s; it must be said that passenger trains ran on metals connected to the SMJ until the mid 1960s. There was a passenger service from the nearest point to…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward Jun 16.

Wartime passenger trains from Burton Dassett 3 Replies

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. Last reply by Dave Hayward Jun 16.

SMJ photos

Binton station plans

Hi!

I recently discovered this article on Binton station building in the now long defunct magazine ‘Model Railways’ from 1976. It includes a full plan which might encourage someone to model this simple station.

Does anyone have access to, or know of a similar set of drawings of Kineton station, Warwickshire?

Regards

Martin

Attachments:

May18#05.JPG, 816 KB
May18#06.JPG, 3.1 MB

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Permalink Reply by Simon Stevens on May 7, 2022 at 9:06

You could ask the Leamington & Warwick Model Railway Society. They're building a model of Kineton:

https://www.lwmrs.co.uk/kineton

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Permalink Reply by Martin Bromage on May 8, 2022 at 16:08

Hi Simon

Thanks for this. I certainly will chase them up. I wonder what period they are modelling? It would be interesting to know what progress they have made and if it’s possible to see the layout too.

I'm presently collecting rolling stock for a 1952-1959 layout (such as 40+ iron ore tipplers and a similar number of iron ore hoppers!) although Kineton was drastically changed from 1958 to 1964. I know the loop was extended in July 1958 and the goods sidings were removed between July and November 1964 from R.A. Cooke’s GWR/W. Region track plans (Section 29). ‘Warwickshire Railways’ says the last day of the Stratford - Blisworth pick ups was 7th September 1962 so the sidings probably had no use after that.

On the same site regarding the destruction of Kineton’s platforms John Jennings notes that:

‘During 1959 …... the former station locations at Burton Dassett, Kineton and Ettington had their passing loops extended and long & short token section instruments with greater operating flexibility were installed. The track was relaid with new heavy quality material for much of the route and the former platforms at the wayside stations were dug out and angled back in order to provide clearance for outside cylindered ex GWR locos’

I can’t recommend enough the ‘Warwickshire Railways’ website with it’s wonderful John Jennings' Research Papers and the R.A. Cooke GWR/W. Region track plans for those interested in the SMJR from it’s birth to demise.