page_title: Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway
section_title: The Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway
hierarchical_section_title: Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway / The Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: System map of the Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway, England, in 1872
context_page_description: The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway was a railway company formed at the beginning of 1909 by the merger of three earlier companies:
  the East and West Junction Railway,
  the Evesham, Redditch, and Stratford-upon-Avon Junction Railway, and
  the Stratford-upon-Avon, Towcester, and Midland Junction Railway.
  In 1910 the Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway was purchased and an east-west network was formed which linked routes to Bedford and Northampton in the east to lines leading towards Banbury and Gloucester in the west, by way of Towcester and Stratford-on-Avon.
  The constituent lines had each been built with a view to carrying Northamptonshire iron ore to South Wales and the West Midlands, but they were all unable to finance their planned lines in full. The formation of the SMJR in 1909 was in effect a financial reconstruction, but the management of the combined company also showed a certain flair for generating tourist income, based on the connection with Shakespeare and also the family connections with George Washington. In addition the line developed as a shorter route for Midland Railway goods traffic from the Bristol area to London.
context_section_description: The Northampton and Banbury Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 9 July 1847, with the intention of connecting the ironstone fields of Northamptonshire with a market for iron ore in South Wales. In the first instance it was to do this by connecting from Gayton Wharf, near Northampton, to the Buckinghamshire Railway, at Cockley Brake, near Banbury, running via Towcester.
  In fact the ambitious scheme failed to raise the capital it needed to carry out its plans, and it had to obtain powers for an extension of time when the original authorisation lapsed; the second Act was passed on 28 July 1863; the name was changed to the Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway (N&BJR). Even then it was forced to content itself with a short line from Blisworth, on the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) main line to Towcester, opened on 1 May 1866. It built its own station at Blisworth alongside the LNWR station.
  The N&BJR extended its line to Cockley Brake, approaching Banbury, on 1 June 1872 (authorised by a further Bill in 1870). Goods traffic had been carried as far as Helmdon since August 1871. The extension was 15 miles in length, and was constructed using very light permanent way materials, which caused difficulties later. The junction at Cockley Brake was over five miles from Banbury, and running powers over the Buckinghamshire Railway were necessary to reach that place. The company was able to operate a passenger service from Blisworth through Towcester, Wappenham, Helmdon and Cockley Brake to Banbury. It worked the line itself with second hand engines acquired from the LNWR until 1875, from which time they were hired from that company throughout the remaining lifetime of the N&BJR.
  Still intending to reach South Wales independently, the N&BJR obtained authorisation for a further extension to Blockley, Gloucestershire, (near Moreton-in-Marsh) in 1865 and to Ross-on-Wye in 1866. This line would have turned south-west on the approach to Banbury; the company signalled its intention by changing its name to the Midland Counties and South Wales Railway. However it quickly became obvious that these ambitious plans—96 miles of railway was contemplated at a cost of £1,250,000—were impossible to put into effect, and the company reverted to its former name. In fact the desired connecting line across the hills to Chipping Norton was built much later by the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, which opened on 6 April 1887. The Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway did not generate much passenger traffic, and the train service was limited to three or four return trains daily, but cattle proved a very successful traffic as Banbury cattle market grew in importance.
  The small scale ironstone workings around Blisworth and Gayton (a mile or so south-west of Blisworth on the N&BJR line) developed in the 1880s and with the advance of mechanisation so the workings expanded considerably; this later became an extensive site operated by Richard Thomas and Baldwins.
caption: System map of the Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway
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