Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR)

[KeithMacdonald]

Am I correct in thinking that there's no topic in the Disused Railways section for the M&SWJR?  Has the M&SWJR been neglected? Well, in a way, that's entirely appropriate, as the M&SWJR was sadly neglected even when it still existed as "Swindon's Other Railway".

 

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Adrian Vaughan recounts an anecdotal conversation about the M&SWJR's operating methods; a man called Nelson Edwards is recalling pre-grouping days; with him are Bill Curtis, ex M&SWJR, and Sid Tyler, GWR:

"We were even short of goods brake vans. When we wanted to run a trip out to Moredon power station with coal we had a special brake van kept for the job—it was an old water tank. When I stood inside it acting as guard my head just poked out of the filler hole nicely, shorter chaps stood on a box inside."  

 

"Not only that," said Bill, "but we were short on tail lamps too. If a special had to run up to Tidworth we often had to hang a churn lid on the buffer of the last wagon." Nelson agreed that this was done on the Moredon trips too.

 

"Well I'm damned," said Sid, "what would you have done if the couplings had broken and you were in a water tank at the back of the train going up the bank from Rushey [Platt] to [Swindon] Old Town? You've no chance without brakes, down the hill and of at the first catch point!"

 

Nelson and Bill grinned happily at the fuss Sid was making. "It was a man at the rear of the train anyhow," said Bill. "That was better than nothing

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland_and_South_Western_Junction_Railway#Operating_methods

 

 

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

The route ran from Andoversford to Andover.

 

 

By Afterbrunel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30032256

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[KeithMacdonald]

Nicely mentioned by @CME and Bottlewasher in his topic on Draycott (Camp) Halt Sidings (7mm Finescale)

 

 

[CME and Bottlewasher]

Hi Keith,

 

I shall follow with interest.

 

Thanks for viewing DCHS.

 

My own modelling, is a 'what might have been', some 21 years now, gosh, how time flies! (with a dose of modeller's licence thrown in - purest please look away).

 

Hereunder a rough sketch of where my Down Ampney branch (twig) sits in the grand scheme of things. Link also hereunder for those interested in such

 

 

Best wishes,

 

CME

Edited February 25, 2021 by CME and Bottlewasher

[KeithMacdonald]

Andoversford Junction is the northern end of the M&SWJR, where it met the GWR line between Cheltenham and Oxford.

 

 

 

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M&SWJR trains ran into Cheltenham over the GWR tracks, but were not permitted to call at Andoversford station until 1904. The M&SWJR opened its own station, called Andoversford and Dowdeswell, on the opposite side of the village. Under the Grouping, the GWR took control of the M&SWJR; it renamed Andoversford station as Andoversford Junction in 1926 and closed Andoversford and Dowdeswell to passenger traffic the following year, though it remained open for goods.

 

Ref : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andoversford_Junction_railway_station

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[KeithMacdonald]

Note for passing pedants: the maps shown here are all from the Ordnance Survey's 1892-1914 25-inch series. As the OS itself kindly remarks:

 

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if an OS map was first published over 50 years ago it can be copied or otherwise used without a licence from OS.

 

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/governance/crown-copyright

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

One of the first challenges for anyone who ever wonders about modelling any of the M&SWJR is : What can you use for locomotives and rolling stock?  You won't find much at all on the RTR shelves. 

 

Perhaps we could reverse-engineer any of the M&SWJR locos and rolling stock that fell into the hands of the GWR? On inspection, it seems that nothing much survived many years with GWR, certainly not into BR(W) days, and nothing at all was preserved(?) Happy to be corrected on that last point.

 

Or build a kit?

 

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GWR No. 1334, and sister locomotives 1335 and 1336, were 2-4-0 steam locomotives which the Great Western Railway inherited from the Midland and South Western Junction Railway... A 4 mm scale kit is available from Nu-Cast

 

So says Wikipedia here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_No._1334

 

But does Nu-Cast even exist any more?

 

[Miss Prism]

15 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

But does Nu-Cast even exist any more?

 

Resurrected

[KeithMacdonald]

Now wandering off to try and find what GWR steam era locos and/or BR(W) early diesel might be appropriate .... along with any possible Rule 1 excuses for including passing LMS / Southern traffic. (Marlborough and Savernake look promising for that, more on that to follow).

 

 

[burgundy]

7 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

One of the first challenges for anyone who ever wonders about modelling any of the M&SWJR is : What can you use for locomotives and rolling stock?  You won't find much at all on the RTR shelves. 

I think Roxey Mouldings used to do a kit for Galloping Alice. And Woodham Wagon Works used to do castings for a Swindon, Marlborough and Andover open wagon. 

Best wishes 

Eric 

[Steamport Southport]

9 minutes ago, burgundy said:

I think Roxey Mouldings used to do a kit for Galloping Alice. And Woodham Wagon Works used to do castings for a Swindon, Marlborough and Andover open wagon. 

Best wishes 

Eric 

 

Still do. As well as other locos.

 

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/category/11/4mm-scale-etched-loco-kits/

 

Need your own tender though.

 

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/293/4l4-galloping-alice-mswjr-2-6-0-gwr-rebuild/

 

 

 

Jason

[KeithMacdonald]

What can one say about Andoversford Junction from a modelling point of view? The station itself had a couple of small sidings and a loading bay. Possibly used for what's described as a "large market" in Andoversford itself. Good for a couple of cattle wagons perhaps?

 

 

 

The junction itself is fairly bland. There's just a couple of tracks that look like passing loops or exchange sidings, and a signal box.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[KeithMacdonald]

Next stop going south is Andoversford and Dowdeswell railway station. That's the M&SWJR's own station, not be confused with the Andoversford Junction GWR station.

 

 

 

Any good for us modellers?

 

 

 

Two long sidings, proceeding in an orderly direction towards the police station. On the basis of circumstancial evidence (m'lud), believed to be related to the large market in town.

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[KeithMacdonald]

Next stop? Withington. Which is quite typical of all the stations on the M&SWJR. That is, for villages or small towns. Which never generated enough civilian traffic and revenue to make it long-term viable.

 

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The station was always lightly used and from 1956 staffing was withdrawn and it was downgraded to halt status. The line closed to all traffic in 1961 and the station buildings were demolished, though traces of one of the platforms remain.

 

Ref : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withington_railway_station_(Gloucestershire)

 

 

 

Looks like the typical passing loop and one small goods siding. Did the village have any notable industries or activities of interest for modellers? Hardly anything, except for the Fried Chicken And Chips.

 

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The Mill Inn, now the only public house in Withington, is credited with creating the popular fried chicken and chips meal, served in a basket, in the 1960s

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withington,_Gloucestershire

 

Even that didn't last long.

 

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Diners are calling for the pub staple chicken-in-a-basket to be returned to the menu at the Cotswolds inn where the dish is said to have been invented. The Mill at Withington is credited locally with creating the popular fried chicken and chips meal in the 1960s. Mill regular Bob Willey said he was so surprised at the absence of the dish on the menu he complained to the brewery. A spokesman for owners Samuel Smith's said it was a "no comment situation".

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7587978.stm

 

is it the Curse Of The M&SWJR?

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[KeithMacdonald]

Chedworth Halt seems to be as basic as it's possible to get.

 

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The original station was very small and used an old railway carriage on the single platform as the waiting shelter. It was relocated a little further north when the line was made double track in 1902. No goods facilities were provided. ... The station was always lightly used and from 1925 it was downgraded to halt status, with staffing entirely withdrawn in 1954.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chedworth_Halt_railway_station

[KeithMacdonald]

At last (you might say) we've reached somewhere more interesting (from a modelling point of view).

 

Foss Cross

 

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Foss Cross was an isolated station, and the nearest village was Chedworth, over a mile away, and that petitioned successfully for its own station, which opened just a year later. Other villages such as Bibury were up to four miles away. The result was that the station was very lightly used for passenger traffic and towards the end of its life only one passenger a day used it regularly.

 

I thought you said it was interesting? A station with only one passenger?

 

 

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By "Australia3393" - 31618 Foss Cross - Foss Cross station in Gloucestershire, on the Midland & South Junction Railway between Cirencester and Andoversford Junction, opened in 1891 and the whole line closed in September 1961. Southern Railway U Class 2-6-0 31618 was allocated to Eastleigh shed. EX Collection 43-4-5

 

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However, what it lacked in passengers it made up in goods traffic. The station (along with a cattle dock) handled much agricultural traffic until the 1930s and there was also a set of sidings leading to stone quarries. Some of the stone was used by the railway, and water from the large water tower at Cirencester Watermoor station was hauled regularly to Foss Cross sidings in rail-mounted tankers to supply the stone crushing equipment located there.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foss_Cross_railway_station

 

The quarry (to the east) was probably producing the classic honey-coloured Cotswold Limestone.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[KeithMacdonald]

What kind of wagons did the M&SWJR have? That was a topic of discussion back in 2014. Kit-makers that got a mention include Smallbrook, Wild Swan, Ken Werrett, Coopercraft, Bill Bedford, Slaters, etc.

 

 

Including a three-plank wagon made by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company.

 

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

Cirencester Watermoor

 

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Cirencester was the biggest station on this section of the line; it was home to the M&SWJR's locomotive and wagon workshops, and a large goods yard. There was also a huge water tank, atop a stone building on the up platform, which supplied water that was loaded into rail-mounted tankers and taken to the stone-crushing plant at Foss Cross, the next station to the north.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirencester_Watermoor_railway_station

 

 

 

 

The map shows the Station, Goods Shed, Cattle Pens, a large Gas Works, and the Engine Houses. Presumably that was home for locos like the Roxey Mouldings 4-4-0

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/291/4l2-mswjr-4-4-0-original-version/

 

I wonder where the coal for the gas works came from? In that era, would have been from the North Somerset coal fields? Presumably the gas was for Cirencester town houses, not for the Infectious Diseases Hospital next door?

 

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Cirencester Watermoor never achieved the passenger or goods traffic that was attracted by the Great Western station in the town, Cirencester Town, and its status was further diminished when, following the Grouping of 1923, the M&SWJR line was allocated to the GWR, which promptly closed the workshops.

 

After 1923 then, we have license to use RTR locos like

Oxford Rail Dean Goods

https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/collections/oxford-rail/products/gwr-2534-deans-goods

 

Bachmann 32-303 GWR 2251

Bachmann 45xx ?

Bachmann 43xx 2-6-0 Mogul

 

In later years, some of the Manor class.

 

 

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By David Hopkins - 7808 “Cookham Manor” - Regular performers on the Midland & SWJcn. Railway were 7808 and 7810 “Draycott Manor”. Although I do distinctly remember seeing 7804 “Baydon Manor” (89C) on one occasion. Here we see 7808 “Cookham Manor” at Cirencester Watermoor station with 1X06 SLS special “Farewell to the M&SWJcn railway”. The tour started at Birmingham Snow Hill and ran to Andover and return. 10th September 1961.

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[sandra]

I’m modelling Andover Junction on the LSWR main line in 1954. This is where the MSWJR ended. The three MSWJR locomotives which did survive into BR days were the Dubs 2-4-0s but they had long left the MSWR and were shedded at Didcot or Reading.

 

In 1954 the MSWJR was largely worked by 43XX 2-6-0s with Southern N class and later U class locos working some services. 2251 0-6-0s, pannier and small prairies also appeared and Manor class worked some of the through trains from Cheltenham to Southampton. The MSWJR had running powers to Southampton Terminus from Andover.

 

Its no doubt that the greatest disaster to befall the MSWJR was the take over by the GWR. The GWR had always resented this interloper particularly as it had the temerity to place its headquarters at Swindon. So after the takeover there was a deliberate policy of running the railway down. This reached its conclusion with the diversion of the service from Cheltenham Lansdown to St James. This ended its connection to the Midland main line and thus its use as a through route. This led to closure in 1961. 
 

If the railway had survived it would be an extremely useful route today as it linked the expanding towns of Cheltenham, Swindon and Andover with Southampton and potentially Birmingham. 
 

There have been a few models of the MSWJR, I can remember Chisledon and Cirencester in P4 and my own Andover Junction in EM. I know Andover was a Southern station but there was  an MSWJR 2 road shed there which shared a turntable with the Southern. 

Sandra

[KeithMacdonald]

Continuing southwards, the last station in Gloucestershire was South Cerney.

 

Typically M&SWJR:

 

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Passenger traffic at the station was never high, but there was much goods activity associated with the local gravel pits. As a whole, traffic on the M&SWJR fell steeply after the Second World War and the line closed to passengers in 1961, with goods facilities at South Cerney being withdrawn in July 1963.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Cerney_railway_station

 

 

 

The local gravel pits are now sailing clubs lakes and reservoirs.

 

What about the station itself? A couple of small sidings and a loading dock. How would gravel have been loaded into wagons?

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[KeithMacdonald]

After South Cerney, we cross the border into Wiltshire, where we find most of the M&SWJR. The first station we reach is Cricklade.

 

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Cricklade station was on the southern edge of the town of Cricklade, and was a passing place on the M&SWJR line, which was mostly single track. It was one of the busier stations on the line with both passengers and freight traffic, and there was a large volume of milk traffic.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricklade_railway_station

 

 

 

For modellers, a more interesting station? We can see the passing loop, two station sidings with what look like loading bays, and then the two longer sidings with a shed of some kind and the cattle pens. I'm wondering where the "large volume of milk traffic" was handled. Was it the classic story of milk churns on a Syphon wagon and then, or six-wheel milk wagons?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Railway_Milk_Tank_Wagon

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[Miss Prism]

Siphons, with churns on the platform.

[KeithMacdonald]

Also, before we leave Cricklade, thanks to the efforts of @CME and Bottlewasher, we're been able to discover the Top Secret Military Railway that went to Down Ampney airfield, and beyond towards Fairford. It was so Top Secret it didn't even appear on the official maps of the time.

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
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[KeithMacdonald]

 Still going south, next stop should be Blunsdon. But we pause for a moment to report some "breaking news". A new railway is being built between Cricklade and Blunsdon!
 

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Return to Cricklade

We may be temporarily closed - but work is under way to clear the trackbed in preparation for laying more track towards Cricklade.

Our contractors have been clearing the line while the railway sleeps!

 

 

https://swindon-cricklade-railway.org/

 

The "Return to Cricklade" plan is nicely documented here:

https://swindon-cricklade-railway.org/return-to-cricklade/

 

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In Phase 1 we aim to lay 600 yards of track up to Farfield Lane cutting. We need to raise £100,000 to recover and refurbish the trackbed and embankments, and also to purchase ballast.

 

More details and costings:

https://swindon-cricklade-railway.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Return-to-Cricklade-Appeal-Prospectus-Issue-1.pdf

 

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We Have the Track! The P-way team at Didcot in early 2018, dismantling lengths of track.  However, the track is one of the major expenses in our venture. We already have sufficient sleepers to reach Farfield Lane but the one acquisition that has really brought this venture forward is the recent recovery of rail from the former Didcot A Power Station site in Oxfordshire. This was through the generous contribution of owners Graftongate and the development managers Clowes Group.We now have sufficient rail to reach Cricklade, so only require sleepers from Farfield Lane to Cricklade, various track fittings and, the largest of the track expenses: ballast.

 

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Phase 1 requires around £100,000 to complete. This is made up of the following elements--

•Base Ballast -£70,000

•Boundary Fencing -£10,000

•Lineside Clearance and Drainage -£15,000

•Trackbed preparation and grading -£5,000

 

 

Is there some irony in that they need to ballast to reach Cricklade. Which was a loading point for gravel from the South Cerney area? Or would Cotswold gravel not be suitable track ballast?

 

Apologies in advance for any pedants would think this is not suitable material for the "Disused Railways" section.

[Halvarras]

Some interesting colour photos of the southern end of the MSWJR line before, during and after closure, appear in 'Impermanent Ways - The Closed Lines of Britain - Volume 3 - Wiltshire' by Jeffery Grayer (Noodle Books, 2012). This includes views of Cirencester Watermoor after closure, even though that was just over the border in Gloucestershire. These were of particular interest to me because from February 1985 until March 2019 I worked for a certain Japanese car distributor whose headquarters are (soon to be 'were' by the sound of it, thanks to Covid-19) located just yards from the site of the station, and one of my lunchtime walks would take me along the top of a former railway embankment just north of the station.  I believe that only two of us there, myself and 3mm modeller John Thomas, ever knew that the railway existed and that a bridge once spanned the end of the access road to our place of employment. My daily commute from Swindon took me through Cricklade, where an upper quadrant signal stands (or at least it did two years ago) at the side of a roundabout marking the spot where the railway once entered 'The First Town on the Thames' from the south, and right past the Blunsdon station site; I confess to being an infrequent visitor but I was once offered, and accepted, a ride in the cab of Class 03 D2022, which in retrospect was perhaps more than I deserved!

Other photos in the book show the abandoned track between Rushey Platt and Swindon Town station, just as I remember it when I walked it in 1972/3. There is also some information on the rundown and closure of the line. I bought the book in WHSmith Cirencester where I once also found a small softback book on the MSWJR.......so small that it seems to have gone into hiding!