‘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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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 Sep 1.

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 Aug 30.

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

Loco N° 5. 2-4-0T

Hi everybody

I’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 body I got from Peter Dawson.

The overall dimensions are similar enough to represent an acceptable loco.

The question is:

The Beatie Well Tank has outside cylinders which can be removed
SMJR N°s 5 & 6 were made by Beyer Peacock and had inside cylinders.
All the information I can dig out on Beyer Peacock locos show their 2-4-0 Tanks with outside cylinders similar to the Isle of Man engine.

This seems also to be often the case with the 0-6-0 tender locos.

Were the E&WJR and SMJR locos specials?

I find no trace of their purchase in the manufacturing records of Beyer Peacock.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Best regards

Jack

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Simon Dunkley on March 17, 2025 at 18:23

Hi Jack,

The EWJR locos were part of an order for three locos by the Swindon, Marlborough and Andoversford Railway (later part of the MSWJR), to be numbers 8, 9 and 10. The SMA could only afford 1 of the three locos, and the other two remained with the builders, who offered them to the EWJR. They were complete (numer 10 was even photographed in photographic grey ready for delivery to the SMA), needing only fitting with Westinghouse pumps and associated pipes, and the removal of the vacuum ejector.

Drawings of the SMA/MSWJR loco appeared in and old Model Railway News, and also the relevant Mike Barnsley book on the MSWJ.

As they were not ordered by the EWJR, this may explain why you. Can’t find records.

I would say that these locos were quite a bit bigger than the Bettie well-tanks.