‘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
Misunderstanding Easton Neston
Hello, I'm a new member and I've searched through the articles and can't find anything specific to my answer/ question. Can anyone help?
this is a still from my Northamptonshire video* presentation and I'm trying to work out what the loop is in the elbow of the two routes departing eastwards from Towcester. Railmaponline suggests it is a SMJR transfer loop so trains could (in theory) travel from Bedford to Northampton avoiding Towcester but using SMJR metals. Regardless of this unlikely route, can anyone support this theory or, like some of the older Library of Scotland maps, does it suggest that it's a brick/lime kiln tramway that existed before the 1892 Towcester to Olney branch was completed?
opening and closing dates and the purpose of the line is what I'm trying to obtain
Thank you in advance
railmaponline%20Towcester%20loop.png
Brick%20Works%20Easton%20Neston.png
* I publish videos under the name Matt Davis - Beechings Ghosts https://www.youtube.com/@MattDavis_BeechingsGhosts
Views: 155
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Barry Taylor on
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Essentially you are correct about it being a relic of the tramway that connected to the Towcester - Blisworth line, but it is a bit more complex than that. A connection was put in from Lloyds Sidings on the Blisworth route about a mile north of Towcester to serve the nearby new ironworks in 1873 - that project didn't last long but the Easton Neston site then became brickworks.. When the new line from Towcester to Ravenstone was planned there were several spurs and connections involved, which would have included a triangular junction with the Blisworth line in the same place. A bit of the old tramway would also have been upgraded to form part of the new route. In the end it was all simplified and just a connection put in to serve the brickworks from the Ravenstone line - the old connection to the Blisworth line was abandoned. The brickworks lingered on into the 1920s. That's the simple version! This plan sort of explains it - this is what might have happened but the junction for Ravenstone was put in nearer to Towcester station instead, so cutting out most of 'Ry1' and all of 'Ry2' and 'Ry3'. The new siding was where it says 'Brick kilns'
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Thank you, muchly.
This all makes sense and solves that problem! Has anyone done a reasonable video on the history of the railway? I may start one of my own on the SMJR
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Matt
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