‘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"
Broom History Group will be holding an event at Broom Village Hall 2-4pm on 9th November 2024 including a film on the railway and Broom Junction.…Continue
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
I'm afraid I can be of no help at all, since the best copy that I now have in my possession is the one on the front cover of "Lost Railways of Northamptonshire". I am not too certain of the provenance of this one either, since the cover was designed by Stenlakes the Publishers. However the same shot appears in Arthur Jordan's book on the SMJ attributed to "L.G.R.P/Real Photographs". The only suggestion that I can make is that perhaps "Old House (etc)" relates to Charles Bartholemew's nearby mansion at Blakesley Hall. Do you think it might be a board for displaying notices concerning Bartholemew's miniature railway, say "Old House Rly"?
Thanks for your reply. I doubt if it was a noticeboard for the BMR as it would have been behind the screen wall for the gents toilet, strange though isn't it. The resolution of your picture is better than that in Jordan's book, it was from your picture I managed to make out the words 'Old' and 'House'. By the way I'm reading 'The Quiet Waters By' at present.