‘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
magnet fishing
Hi everyone, yesterday I did some magnet fishing with the grandchildren from the SMJ bridge over the river Tove in Towester, to great excitement of the children (and myself) we pulled out three chair screws and a rivet which looked similar in style…Continue
Started by Steve Camm yesterday.
One of the best preserved SMJ bridges? 1 Reply
I was at Ettington the other day and apart from the good shed, which has had a lot of money spent on it including full glazing, the station building is still there. But my attention went to the station bridge (No. 73?) which is in very good…Continue
Started by John Evans. Last reply by Andy Thompson on Sunday.
Passenger Trains connected to the SMJ
Following on from the previous discussion about WD passenger trains on the SMJ during the 1940s; it must be said that passenger trains ran on metals connected to the SMJ until the mid 1960s. There was a passenger service from the nearest point to…Continue
Started by Dave Hayward Jun 16.
Wartime passenger trains from Burton Dassett 3 Replies
Arthur Jordan in his book, The Stratford Upon Avon and Midland Junction Railway - The Shakespeare Route at pp 82 mentions a WW2 late night special from Stratford on Avon to Burton Dassett for soldiers at the CAD. I would envisage that this did not…Continue
Started by Dave Hayward. Last reply by Dave Hayward Jun 16.
SMJ photos
SMJ long straight
A long straight stretch of the SMJ, with the line seeming to curve away left in the distance. Not too many other clues, but the telegraph poles are the single bar type which limits it a bit maybe?
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Comment by Barry Taylor on March 27, 2013 at 17:56
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Jim - thanks - you could just be right. The poles are on the correct side of the line for looking east, and they are of the right type too. The high voltage line is also just in the right place. Looking on Google Street View across the fields I could almost believe that some of the trees in the distance are the same - but that might be wishful thinking ! The problem with this stretch of line is that very few photos were taken when the track was there - most people got there when it was derelict and overgrown, and so was unrecognisable. It could be from the Hartwell road bridge - the photographer did take some at Quinton and other spots along this stretch in 1957/8, and this bit of line looks still in use.
This is my favourite so far - can anyone confirm?
I'll put up a photo now of that bridge from the trackbed - not that it helps any !
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Gary - many thanks for your thoughts on this one. Please see John Jenning's comments about the type of telegraph pole crossbars. Also wouldn't the poles be on the other side of the line if we were looking east down towards Binton from this point? I know that they do vary occasionally and it's easy to get caught out sometimes, so I can't be certain about this point.....?
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John
Many thanks for this. I do have one of your own shots looking east from Luddington, and the landscape is certainly similar. The mystery pic could be looking west from the same point perhaps? However, I do concur with your comment about the telegraph poles - I cannot find any at all with just one bar on all of the pics that I have of this section of the line, during the 1950/60 era. The photgrapher did certainly get to that area in 1957, as I have dated shots of Binton and Broom in March of that year, and the stretch of line pictured is obviously still in use.
I've examined the original print very closely with a magnifying glass, and there are few other clues visible, apart from what looks like a high voltage pole run crossing the line at right angles in the distance just before it curves away left - does this fit? I'm not sure just which bridge you are suggesting, but presumably not the minor road to Luddington, as that would be visible on the right in the picture as it seems to run parallel to the line?
It's just those poles that are the problem.......!
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Comment by Gary on March 26, 2013 at 11:33
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I think it is from near B439 looking towards Binton station. There is a long straight there and line curves left gently at the end.
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Barry, I am pretty sure that this one is near Luddington between Binton & Stratford. Photo taken from an occupation bridge. The only mystery is the pole run as photos taken towards the end of the ER&SJR route show two cross bars not one! I will look into this further. The reballasting mentioned by others did indeed happen in the early 1950's. Apparantly it was supposed to have been done at the time of the wartime upgrade which brought the East - West route into being at Broom but due to wartime shortages a lot of loco ash and clinker was used instead and of course this did not last long hence the new ballast in the 1050's
John
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