‘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

In the middle of nowhere, the Great Central Railway built a town and huge marshalling yards for freight. When it closed in 1966, nature quickly reclaimed much of the land. The SMJ can be seen running centre left to centre top. The line running from the bottom right corner is the Great Central, with spurs to the SMJ. The evening sun is making the scene a little more hazy.

Views: 113

Add a Comment

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

Join The SMJ Society

Comment by Andy Thompson on October 8, 2010 at 18:34

Comment by John Evans on October 8, 2010 at 0:59
Hey Dick

Thanks for this. My memory is a big vague and I now see you are absolutely right. I have a very nice transparency of Woodford West with all the track in place taken looking east along the SMJ. When I load my slides eventually I'll share it.
Comment by Dick Bodily on October 6, 2010 at 17:01
John
An excellent fascinating series of pictures. Thanks for all the things you've recently added to the site.
I think your geography is very slightly out ... so here goes....hope you don't mind.... but in this picture the SMJ running from Morton Pinkney is making a faint scar on the field at the bottom left hand corner of your picture. It crosses the tree topped cutting of the GC main line, then enters a densely wooded cutting as it goes under the Eydon Road before heading towards the top right hand corner of the picture. The much used curved connection between Woodford 'North' and Woodford West junctions is clearly visible on the central right hand side of the picture. Woodford West itself is very clear, if you move diagonally along the SMJ route towards the top right corner of your picture its where the two lines of trees meet. Also visible, beyond and almost parallel to the SMJ is the long disused tree lined deep cutting of the South Curve from Woodford South Junction ( just off the left hand side of the picture) to Woodford West. I think you have mistaken this for part of the SMJ's formation. Several pictures of the still existing Eydon Road bridges can be seen on the Woodford Halse picture album (click on 'Photos + Videos', them 'View Albums' to find them) The trackbed of the SMJ, plus part of the South Curve and the site of Woodford West are now a nature reserve which can be visited although parking is difficult. On one of my visits there along with Andy (TFC) we came across the warden. unfortunately the SMJ bridge over the GC disappeared a few years ago but the Eydon road is still a fascinating area to explore for researchers of GCR or SMJR history.
Dick

© 2024   Created by Andy Thompson.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service