‘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
South Wales Traffic
I was browsing through some very old notebooks.
One included a Sunday visit to Newport Ebbw Junction loco shed in February 1962.
Amonst the 100+ locos were two (at least) austerities from Woodford Halse.
Presumably these had worked over the SMJ to Stratford, then via the 1960 link to Honeybourne, then Gloucester (?).
I remember South Wales locos being pretty common at Woodford and assumed that most of them came via Banbury. In fact, I suppose, most of them came via Stratford.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dick Bodily on
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Peter
After 1960 most traffic between South Wales and the GC at Woodford went via the SMJ, this included the fast fitted freights to and from York Dringhouses. Like yourself I wrongly assumed that Ebbw Junc and Cardiff Canton locos at Woodford had come via Banbury. Woodford WDs and later 8Fs worked through to Wales with the Woodford crews relieved around Honeybourne. If you can get hold of a back copy of June 2010 Steam days there's an article by Rex Partridge about Byfield SMJ that details some of these workings.
Dick
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Permalink Reply by Peter Fleming on
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Dick
Most of my time was spent at the east end of the line, Blisworth etc. where it was fairly quiet. Obviously things were a lot busier from Woodford to Stratford.
When I went to Woodford I usually went near the Byfield Road bridge. This was near the shed and the best place to go for the number of locos. Before that I went a few times to the station yard, i.e. near the junction. Here it was fairly obvious that probably the majority of freights were along the SMJ Byfield line. I suppose most of the rest were along the Banbury line, and very few along the main line to London.
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Peter
I usually used to go to the football field next to the triangle on Saturday afternoons, watch the match noting anything turning on the triangle and nip around the shed at halftime! Charwelton was another favoured spot as you'd catch any V2s or B16s on fitted freights before they were taken off and replaced with WDs or WR engines. As I spent a lot of time spotting at Banbury and Swindon I wasn't so interested with what happened south of the sheds, clearly I should have been.
Dick
Dick
Most of my time was spent at the east end of the line, Blisworth etc. where it was fairly quiet. Obviously things were a lot busier from Woodford to Stratford.
When I went to Woodford I usually went near the Byfield Road bridge. This was near the shed and the best place to go for the number of locos. Before that I went a few times to the station yard, i.e. near the junction. Here it was fairly obvious that probably the majority of freights were along the SMJ Byfield line. I suppose most of the rest were along the Banbury line, and very few along the main line to London.
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