‘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
Brick foundations uncovered on the south side of the S.M.J.R. line. Note the 2 metal rods protruding from the brickwork. This bridge crossed the S.M.J.R.line at an angle, which can be traced in the brickwork left on both sides of the cutting.
NOTE; This photo is different to the previous one. There appears to be the foundations of 3 walls, 2 outer and one middle. Was bridge 2 a wooden construction on brick foundations ?
Comment by Dick Bodily on February 21, 2013 at 15:10
On the edge of the field south of the tramway bridge E&WJR No 2 next to where the tramway would have run southwards and within a few yards of where the bridge was we found evidence of building rubble roughly where according to Tonks there was a narrow gauge engine shed. It would have been just a few yards away from the bridge foundations in your picture.
Is the evidence of the engine shed near to the P/W hut ? Have visited this part of the line from Blisworth to Gayton now on two occasions, and it seems that there was a lot going on in this area over the years.
Comment by Dick Bodily on February 20, 2013 at 20:31
Nigel
Liked these pictures of what's left of Bridge 2. When Andy and I visited this site we found some evidence of where the engine shed stood in the field nearby. Did you get to see Bridge 1a's remains down in the stream bed (it's a few hundred yards nearer Blisworth but before the paintball cowboy town thing)? If not, when you go back it's worth having a look for it as it's a bit of a puzzle exactly how it was used and is certainly worth having a look for it. I'd like to know what you or anyone else makes of it.
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