‘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

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.

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Mark Hazelton
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At 21:25 on October 16, 2012, Bob Groom said…
I was one of those tresspassers on the old airfield it made a great racetrack for old clapped out motorbikes,i spent my childhood in chipping warden up to my twenties( chippy to locals)it was heaven for a young adventurous boy from the rifle range used by the airmen to crashed wartime gliders,air raid shelters etc etc there is loads of history on the web if you search i know of one of the crash sites as there is a plaque in a wood along the welsh lane my grandparents lived in aston my grandfather was a guard at stratford on the SMJ and iv been trying to get some info about him as unfortunately he died before i knew him my dad also lived at aston im finding the info on this site facinating,cheers Bob Groom
At 20:47 on February 1, 2010, Dick Bodily said…
Mark

I've put together a Aston le Walls siding page using various people's contributions to the site, I've added your recent picture, hope you don't mind. It can be reached via the *PAGES MENU* link at the top of the page. There's also a Aston le Walls Discussion, from which I pasted a lot of the page, in the Discussions on the Home Page. Have you found out anything about how the railway was used during the construction of the airfield. I remember in the 50s and 60s lots of local people from miles around taught themselves to drive by trespassing on the old airfield.
Dick
At 21:10 on January 30, 2010, Peter S Lewis said…
Hello Mark,
Yes, its surprising how history on the doorstep can completely pass you by!
It was the thought that I ought to find out something about the SMJ that led me here...!!

Kind regards,

Peter
At 18:24 on January 30, 2010, Mark Hazelton said…
Hi, Peter.

Yes, I'm local to the track - I live near to Aston. I spent many a happy day as a child on the old disused line between Claydon and Byfield. I've actually been investigating the history of the old WW2 airfield at Chipping Warden which is what brought me to find out more about the railway. Like the airfield, it had kind of just always been there and taken for granted - but like the airfield, which was used to train new pilots to Wellington bombers and had a reputation for one of the highest crash rates in the country, there must be a huge amount of history involved and it would be a shame for that to be lost!

Thanks for the welcome!

Mark
At 15:44 on January 30, 2010, Peter S Lewis said…
Hello Mark,

Welcome to the site!
I think you will find it will takes quite a time to trawl through all the information here, but I know that you will find it fascinating!
Are you local to the old SMJ line? What sparks your interest?

Kind regards,

Peter
 
 
 

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