LMS Route: Stratford Midland Junction - The Shakespeare Route

SMJ Miscellaneous: smjsa384

An East & West Junction Railway Schedule of Wagons Passing Broom and Olney Junction in 1899. John Cosford, whose copy this, writes 'These are probably the commonest extant E&W documents as they were processed by the Railway Clearing House (RCH) and a number seem to have survived from there. This one I found to be particularly interesting as it is for a Midland Railway wagon containing "goods" which travelled from Bristol to London Kings Cross. The route was Bristol A Wharf (presumably Avonmouth Wharf on the GWR/Midland Joint Line) via Gloucester and Evesham to Broom Junction and then along the entire EWJ route to Olney and then via Bedford to St Pancras. There the wagon would either have been transferred to Kings Cross via the North London Railway connection of else offloaded and taken across by horse and cart. The Midland must have offered a good rate for this journey as it goes a very long way round when compared to the direct GWR route from Bristol to London. Of course, it was on Midland metals the whole way except for the EWJ part and the final few hundred yards from St Pancras which I guess helped the costing. I wonder how much other Midland Railway traffic was routed this way?' Its interesting to note that the movement of 18,916 goods wagons, apparently just for one month, cost only £2-17s-4d.

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