‘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 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
Mystery Parcels Train
I've recently acquired a book entitled 'London Midland Region Steam Finale' by Michael S Welch. Inside is a fascinating picture of now preserved SMJ regular 48305 complete with 2E shedplate backing a Northampton - Stratford PARCELS!!!!! train into the up platform at Towcester in 1962. I've never heard of a parcels working on the SMJ but that is what the photo clearly shows and the cation describeshow the train was reversed back into the down platform to make unloading easier.
Ant further info would be appreciated!!
Views: 372
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by alwyn sparrow on
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Dick
All I can add to this is that examining the Towcester signal box register for the period 1962 I cannot find any reference to a parcel train. Could you be more precise with the date.
Alwyn.
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Permalink Reply by Dick Bodily on
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Alwyn
16th February 1962. Looks to be composed of GUV vehicles or similar, possibly some 6 wheelers, rather than 4 wheeled vans.
Dick
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Dick
Its not surprising then as register starts 17 April 1962
Alwyn.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Fleming on
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Could this have anything at all to do with the use of the re-furbished Blisworth SMJ platforms for parcels at about this time?
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Careful scrutiny of the picture has revealed that 48305 is carrying a Class K headlamp code which suggests it is in fact a normal Blisworth - Stratford pickup consisting of (very abnormal for the SMJ) parcels van stock. The headlamp code was something I should have carefully checked earlier! Interesting though. 8F haulage of the pickup was also unusual as early as Feb 1962. Could it be that the parcels vans were about to dropped off for storage at Towcester? Any ideas welcome.
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Hi Dick
I'm intrigued by this, but havent yet found a copy of the book to have a look at - any chance of a scan? I agree that an 8F at this date is a bit unusual, but I wonder if it was due to the weight of train - perhaps the extra vans took it over the 4F limit - does the pic show the total consist?
You mention that the caption states that it was specially backed into the down side - I'm not sure how Towcester was signalled then, but could it have run straight into that side from the Blisworth direction? Also presumably it could have been put on that side for easy off-loading, and onto road transport - wonder if it was as special consignment for somewhere in the Towcester area?
RegardsBarry
Dick said:Careful scrutiny of the picture has revealed that 48305 is carrying a Class K headlamp code which suggests it is in fact a normal Blisworth - Stratford pickup consisting of (very abnormal for the SMJ) parcels van stock. The headlamp code was something I should have carefully checked earlier! Interesting though. 8F haulage of the pickup was also unusual as early as Feb 1962. Could it be that the parcels vans were about to dropped off for storage at Towcester? Any ideas welcome.
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Barry
Good to hear from you, send me your email address you can text it to me on 07773174203 if you didn't want to put it on the internet.
Dick
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