‘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

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 17 minutes ago.

BLAKESLEY and an SMJ stamp

This item has come up in an auction recently and is a glimpse of the practice of carrying mail by train. Apart from the SMJ…Continue

Started by Graham Ward Nov 14, 2025.

Further about Ravenstone Wood Junction 1 Reply

Firstly a belated thanks to Barry for his excellent research that has returned these signal lever plates to their rightful home! [Perhaps their place of residence on the website needs changing!] Apologies for starting s new Forum discussion on this…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward. Last reply by Barry Taylor Oct 23, 2025.

Ravenstone Wood Junction Signal Box-an anomaly 3 Replies

Closely examining the brass lever plates shown in the Olney Line entry in the Index Section of this website I noticed a significant anomaly. Some of the above plates, specifically 1, 10, 11, 12, 25, 32, 34. refer to platforms, loading dock, goods…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward. Last reply by Barry Taylor Oct 9, 2025.

SMJ photos

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SMJ flight 009

SMJ flight 009

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.

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Albums: Flying the SMJ

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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

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