Midland and South Western Junction Railway

The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north-south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' trains to reach the port of Southampton. The M&SWJR was formed in 1884 from the amalgamation of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway and the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway. The line was absorbed by the Great Western Railway at the 1923 Grouping and became part of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The railway closed to passengers in 1961, and to goods between 1964 and 1970, but a small part of it has been re-opened as the Swindon and Cricklade Railway.

The Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway
The Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway was incorporated in 1873 and opened in three stages: Swindon to Marlborough, 27 July 1881
 * Stage 1

Grafton to Andover, 1 May 1882
 * Stage 2

The complete line from Swindon to Andover was opened on 5 February 1883, by running trains over the Great Western Railway's Marlborough branch and a section of the Berks and Hants Extension Railway, as the SM&AR was unable to complete its own line between Marlborough and Grafton.
 * Stage 3

The Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway
The Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway was incorporated in 1881 and its line was opened that year from Swindon to Cirencester, but financial difficulties halted further construction.

Running powers
After the two railways amalgamated, the original intention of the S&CER to reach Cheltenham was realised in 1891, albeit by obtaining running powers over the final 7.5 mi from a junction at Andoversford over GWR metals to reach the Midland Railway station at Cheltenham (Lansdown).
 * To Cheltenham

In 1892 the M&SWJR secured running powers over the LSWR Sprat and Winkle Line between Andover and Southampton; from then onwards through workings were operated for trains from the Midlands and beyond: Bradford, Manchester and Liverpool were all connected via the line with Southampton at various times over the following years.
 * To Southampton

Marlborough and Grafton Railway
The final section of the line to be built was the missing link between Marlborough and Grafton. The Marlborough and Grafton Railway was incorporated in 1893 and the line was opened in 1898; the M&SWJR took formal ownership of the Marlborough and Grafton Railway in 1899.

For a fuller description of the intricacies of the M&SWJR in the Marlborough and Savernake areas see Marlborough railway stations.

Connections at Marlborough and Swindon
The success of the line was partly hampered by the GWR's demand of high fees for connections with its metals at Marlborough and Swindon. The original plan to run shuttles between the M&SWJR's Swindon Town railway station and the GWR's Swindon Junction station lasted only a couple of years before being abandoned as too expensive. This meant M&SWJR passengers had to disembark at Swindon Old Town station and travel by road to the GWR station approximately one-and-a-half miles away. At Marlborough, until the M&SWJR built its own line south of the town, the GWR insisted that any passengers wanting to change to its trains at Savernake Low Level station had to travel south from Marlborough on the GWR's branch line.

Locomotives


Most locomotives were bought from Dübs and Company (and its successor the North British Locomotive Company) and from Beyer Peacock.


 * 1–8 From Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway
 * 9 Dübs and Company, 4-4-0, built 1893
 * 10–12 Dübs and Company, 2-4-0, built 1894
 * 13 Dübs and Company, 0-6-0T, built 1894
 * 4 (number re-used) Dübs and Company, 0-6-0T, built 1894
 * 14 Beyer Peacock, 2-6-0, built 1895
 * 15 Beyer Peacock, 0-4-4T, built 1895
 * 16 Beyer Peacock, 2-6-0, built 1897
 * 17–18 Sharp Stewart, 4-4-4T, built 1897
 * 19–28 Beyer Peacock, 0-6-0, built 1899–1902
 * 29 SMAR no. 8 re-numbered
 * 30 SMAR no. 1 re-numbered
 * 1–8 (numbers re-used) North British Locomotive Company 4-4-0, built 1905–1912
 * 31 North British Locomotive Company, 4-4-0, built 1914

All except the original numbers 1–8 passed to the Great Western Railway in 1923. Only numbers 10–12 survived into British Railways ownership in 1948. These three became GWR/BR numbers 1334, 1335, 1336.

Grouping
At the Grouping in 1923 the railway became a part of the GWR. At this time the M&SWJR owned 29 locomotives, 134 coaching vehicles, and 379 goods and service vehicles.

Nationalisation
On nationalisation in 1948 the M&SWJR was split between the Western and Southern Regions of British Railways. Services were increasingly diverted to other routes and by 1961 the line was losing £113,000 a year.

Decline and demise

 * 1961 – The line officially closed to passenger traffic.
 * 1963 – Track lifted between Ludgershall and Grafton, and also Cirencester to Andoversford.
 * 1964 – Goods services withdrawn. Track lifted from Marlborough to Swindon Town.
 * 1965 – Track lifted between Moredon and Cirencester.
 * 1966 – Coal traffic terminated.
 * 1968 – Oil traffic terminated.
 * 1970 – Rushey Platt to Swindon Town used for stone traffic relating to the construction of the M4 Motorway.
 * 1972 – The last passenger DMU to Swindon Town station was the "Somerset Quarrymen's Special"
 * 1978 – The remaining track between Swindon and Moredon was lifted.

Swindon

 * A short length has been re-opened as the Swindon and Cricklade Railway.
 * The M4 motorway has been built over a short section of the route between Chiseldon and Swindon.
 * Station Industrial Estate now occupies the site of the Old Town station.

Elsewhere

 * National Cycle Network route 45 uses a large proportion of the trackbed between Cricklade and Marlborough.
 * A short length, Andover-Red Post Junction-Ludgershall, remains open to serve the military depot at Tidworth.
 * There have been talks in recent years of a reopening of the Andover to Ludgershall part of the line to serve the growing town and the expanding military base.
 * There are also talks in progress about the reopening of the Andover to Ludgershall part of the line as a heritage route under the name the "Mid wessex railway preservation society"
 * A boiler (believed to be from a former M&SWJR locomotive) formerly used as a stationary boiler at Didcot motive power depot survives at the Great Western Society's museum at Didcot.