‘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
PPhoto Albums
AndyAbout two years ago I ended up with some railway matter from a Bill Kendall who had been a Signalman on SMJ ending his railway career at Northampton No 1. I worked with him when I was working in Rugby PSB, I also covered the signa?l boxes at…Continue
Started by Robin Leslie Patrick yesterday.
Broom Junction station site for sale 3 Replies
Great opportunity for an SMJ enthusiast perhaps. I'm not sure what you could actually do with this site though!…Continue
Started by Simon Stevens. Last reply by Simon Stevens yesterday.
National Archives, Donation and Kineton Photograph
Not sure if others are aware of the significant amount of documents held by the National Archives on the SMJ. The collection consists mainly of Directors Minutes etc. There is also a collection of early 20th C timetables, handbills etc. which I have…Continue
Started by Dave Hayward Apr 26.
Model Railways
HiI'm selling my collection of SMJR related 00 gauge modelsIf of interest for any of you please contact me by mail atjfreuville@gmail.comand I will send you the list and photosKind regardsJackContinue
Started by Jack Freuville Feb 23.
SMJ photos
Towcester's first layout. - Any ideas?
Just sitting here looking at a picture (of an old postcard in a book) of Towcester and it is mentioning the dates of the lines opening and it got me wondering, What was the layout at Towcester before the lines to Banbury and Stratford were added? Does anyone know? There were some 6 years where it was the terminus from for the Blisworth line before the others arrived in 1872 & 1873 respectfully.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Barry Taylor on
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Hi Gary
The best answer is to get a copy of R A Cooke's book on the Track Layout Diagrams of the Great Western Railway and Western Region - Part 29 - SMJR. This covers all the SMJ lines and not just the ones that came into the Western Region of BR later on.
I think that its distributed by Black Dwarf / Lightmoor Press these days, but might be out of print by now.
It includes a plan of Towcester in 1871, then for 1900, 1911, and 1957 with all sorts of notes and dates re: additions and closures. I have a feeling that an updated edition is due to be published some time, but it might still be around in some railway booksellers, and does turn up on Ebay etc.
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Permalink Reply by Gary on
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Brilliant Barry,
Much obliged. I will go have a hunt for it.
No joy yet...
ATVB
G
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Good luck - I haven't seen a copy for a while. Think the last time was in one of the Ian Allan bookshops, maybe Birmingham.
Try to get a copy of the latest version though - it was originally done in the 70's with a spiral binding, but the reprint of the 1990's has quite a few more pages (therefore much updated) and stapled binding and glossy cover.
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I can live in hope...
May have to see if the library have a copy in the meantime.
Cheers & have a great weekend
G
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Hi again Gary
In case you're interested, I've just received one of my regular e-mails from a railway book dealer, and they have a copy of the first edition (1975) of the SMJ track plan book for £8 +p&p.
The Towcester section is a bit more extensive in the later edition, but if you want one for Xmas.........!
Have a look at www.batterdalebooks.co.uk and go into latest arrivals - it's there under R A Cooke etc
Regards
B
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Permalink Reply by Simon Dunkley on
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Try this site: http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html
Enter the coordinates 468884 and 249416.
Select the 1:2,500 scale map for the 1860s.
Spend a very enjoyable few hors looking at other SMJ stations over time...
Simon
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