‘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
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 on Tuesday.
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 on Sunday.
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
HS2 and the SMJ
Without wishing to start a debate on the pros and cons of HS2, it occurred to me that the proposed route must cross the SMJ somewhere. I looked at the map on the following link:
www.thehs2.com/phase1/maps/showmap.php?type=Google
and it appears that HS2 will cross the old SMJ routes in two places:
i) just to the west of Aston le Walls village on the section between Byfield and Fenny Compton and ii) about halfway between Helmdon and Cockley Brake Jcn.
I don’t know how much of the old trackbed and infrastructure is still visible in these locations but the construction of HS2 is likely to obliterate whatever is there. I have no idea when, or if, work will start but I thought that it might be a good idea if someone photographed these particular areas for posterity before they change. If I was closer I would do it myself but it’s a bit far from where I live in France!
Any thoughts?
John
Views: 816
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Evans on
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Maybe a link to Helmdon station could be proposed. After all, the damsel only sleepeth!
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Permalink Reply by les gee on
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The line of trees in the photo is the SMJ on a slight embankment, Running left from Helmdon to right at Cockley. The HS2 will slice right through it at right angles roughly inbetween the four tress in a square. I will get down there and take some more.
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Thanks Les - lovely sylvan scene. It will be great if you can take more pictures of this quality.
If HS2 does go ahead, an awful lot of the beautiful heart of England, such as this, will be blighted. BR should have retained the Great Central trackbed and maintained the bridges etc so that it could now be used as a viable north-south route without having to spend mega-billions on HS2......
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Permalink Reply by Dick Bodily on
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One of the previously considered alternative routes that was eventually rejected was to pass between Blakesley and Woodend crossing the SMJ roughly near the site of the Hall.
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I thought that they were going to use a majority of the GCR trackbed? If not, they ought to, as the infrastructure such as cuttings, embankments, bridges ect is still all in place along the entire route between London and Leicester, seems logical anyway.
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I don't think that logic plays much of a part in government thinking.......
Richard Woods said:I thought that they were going to use a majority of the GCR trackbed? If not, they ought to, as the infrastructure such as cuttings, embankments, bridges ect is still all in place along the entire route between London and Leicester, seems logical anyway.
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