Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway

The SMJ or more properly the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway was cobbled together from four unprofitable railways 1909-10 creating a marginally profitable 67½ mile network. The SMJ’s aim was to move ironstone to South Wales.  In 1923 the SMJ was grouped into the London Midland and Scottish Railway {LMS} who improved the infrastructure and introduced more powerful locos particularly the 4F. During the first half of the Second World War the SMJ’s infrastructure was upgrade to handle 5MTs, 8Fs, and 9Fs creating a freight avoid line south of the West Midlands. In 1947 the SMJ was nationalised. British Railways withdrew all passenger services by 1952 but developed the SMJ, rather than the Great Western Railway’s Banbury – Cheltenham line, for ironstone traffic. To ease operation two cord lines were open in 1960 a south to west at Fenny Compton and an east to south at Stratford. Unfortunately in mid 1960s the ironstone workings closed and the SMJ followed suit. A short section of the SMJ survives linking Defence Munitions Kineton to Fenny Compton. It was handed to the Ministry of Defence in 1971.
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford-upon-Avon_and_Midland_Junction_Rail