Midland and South Western Junction Railway
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (MSWJR) was, until the 1923 Grouping, a wholly independent railway built to form a link between the Midland (MidR) and London and South Western Railways (LSWR) allowing MidR and Great Western Railway (GWR) trains, inter alia, to reach the port of Southampton.
The MSWJR was formed in 1884 from the amalgamation of two local lines:
- the Swindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway, incorporated 1873 and opened in stages:
- the Swindon & Cheltenham Extension Railway (S&CER): incorporated 1881. Line built from Swindon Old Town station to Cirencester, but financial difficulties halted further construction.
When the two railways amalgamated the original intention of the S&CER to reach Cheltenham was realised, albeit by obtaining running powers over the final 7.5 miles (12km) from a junction at Andoversford over GWR metals. In 1892 the MSWJR secured running powers over the LSWR 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. The success of the line was partly hampered by the GWR's demand of high fees for connections using its own metals and platforms at Swindon, which 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 the time of its absorption with the GWR, the MSWJR owned 29 locomotives, 134 coaching vehicles, and 379 goods and service vehicles. There were stations, naming the places served from south to north, at:
- Andover Junction
- Weyhill
- Ludgershall: here was a branch line to Tidworth military camp
- Collingbourne
- Grafton
- Savernake: here were junctions with the GWR
- Marlborough: the town was also served by a short branch from the GWR
- Ogbourne
- Chiseldon
- Swindon: at its Town station; there was a junction with the GWR main line to Bristol
- (see also Swindon's Other Railway site)
- Blunsdon
- Cricklade
- Cerney and Ashton Keynes
- Cirencester also served by a GWR branch line
- Foss Cross
- Chedworth
- Withington
- Andoversford and Dowdeswell
From the junction trains ran to Cheltenham Lansdown station.
At the Grouping, the railway became a subsidiary of the GWR; in 1948 it was split between the Western and Southern Regions of British Railways. The line closed on 10 September 1961: a short length has been re-opened as the Swindon and Cricklade Railway. National Cycle Network route 45 uses a large proportion of the trackbed between Cricklade and Marlborough; 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.
