‘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"


.

SMJ Forum

More building at Towcester 2 Replies

I hear there has been more building at the station site in Towcester.Anyone know what they've dug up?…Continue

Tags: Towcester

Started by Andy Thompson. Last reply by Nigel Nov 7.

Broom History Group Event 9th November 2024

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

Started by Simon Stevens Oct 25.

Misunderstanding Easton Neston 2 Replies

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?…Continue

Started by Matt Davis. Last reply by Matt Davis Oct 16.

Loco N° 5. 2-4-0T

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

Started by Jack Freuville Aug 29.

SMJ photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

S&MJR Model Railway Layouts

As model railway clubs and enthusiasts often dismantle layouts in order to produce new projects there is no guarantee that all of these layouts are still in existance

Broom Junction (O gauge)

Warley MRS layout sometimes appears at the Warley Exhibition.

Leaving for the SMJ

Clifford Sidings (OO gauge)

Jack Freuville's project ( in Belgium)

Kineton SMJ (N gauge)

Leamington & Warwick MRS early BR days layout in the process of construction.

Fenny Compton (OO gauge)

Jack Freuville's project ( in Belgium)

Byfield (OO gauge)

Northampton Byfield Group's 1930s layout.

Woodford (OO gauge)

Woodford MRC layout at Woodford Halse Social Club, sometimes viewable at special open days at this members only club. Byfield being added to this huge layout.

Woodford 'North' Junction

Blakesley (OO gauge)

Si Donald’s project.

IMG_2073

Blakesley  (? gauge)

A model of Blakesley station was made around 1968 by lady modeller Vivien Thompson from a drawing by draughtsman Bill Ibbott. Info required.

Towcester (OO gauge)

Seen in the 1970s at the old Birmingham Science Museum, does it still exist in store somewhere?

Towcester (OO gauge)

Mike Hemmings‘ project. LMS period layout.

Towcester (N gauge)

Brian Elphick’s project.

Towcester in the 1970s (OO gauge)

John Norton & George Woodcock’s ‘what if’ layout which has featured in magazines and appeared at some model railway exhibitions.

image

Blisworth SMJR (O gauge)

Kettering & District MRS layout. 

 

A historic model railway link with the East & West JR

One of the first model railway layouts to feature scenery, if not the very first, was that built by CW Bartholomew at Blakesley Hall around 1900. He was a big shareholder in the E&WJR at a time when the GCR was thinking of taking over the E&WJR route.  His father Charles had strong links with the MS&LR ( later to become the GCR) having been a director of one of its constituents, the South Yorkshire Railway as well as owning Wombwell Colliery.   It was clockwork, probably O gauge and supplied by Bassett – Lowke of Northampton.  George Bailey (a labourer at the hall) had the job of building the scenery for the squire and thus was truly an unsung pioneer of model railways.

Dick Bodily (26th February 2014)

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of The SMJ Society to add comments!

Join The SMJ Society

Comment by Nick Meredith on October 13, 2015 at 9:53

Progress report on Kineton, N Gauge, as at October 13 2015

Research has continued, including a summer Saturday with a stall at Kineton Farmers' Market.

The baseboards have been ordered, and are due to arrive in the next couple of weeks. 

A test track has been built to experiment with fine scale trackwork, 

Our latest outing was to the Great Electric Train Show at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, this weekend just gone. Particularly on the Sunday we spoke with a lot of local visitors, and gained more general information. 

A slight clarification to the details in the first email. We shall be setting the layout principally inthe 1948-52 period under British Railways, although some earlier stock may also be built. 

Comment by Dick Bodily on July 18, 2015 at 20:50

Thanks Simon, page amended. 18/7/15 Dick

Comment by Simon Dunkley on July 18, 2015 at 10:42
Richard Chown did not build a layout: it was a suggested layout plan in issue 101 of the Model Railway Journal.
Comment by Gary on March 3, 2015 at 15:25

I saw the beginnings of an "N" layout of Stratford a few years back in Stratford. Not sure if it progressed much further than when I saw it as it was an older gentleman building it in the "museum" in the town.

Comment by Dick Bodily on March 2, 2015 at 11:33

Updated already as a result of new info supplied by Robin Cullup and a look through all of my old SMJ related magazine cuttings. Please add further info about any SMJR layout.

Comment by Dick Bodily on February 26, 2015 at 15:18

Follow the link to the new S&MJR Model Railway Layouts page

http://thesmjr.ning.com/page/s-mjr-model-railway-layouts?commentId=...

© 2024   Created by Andy Thompson.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service