Inter-regional trains - Newcastle to Ashford (Kent)

[AVSRailwaysUK]

Good afternoon everyone!

I wasn't sure whether this topic better fitted in this sub-forum or in the main LNER one, but no matter.

I was reading D. L. Bradley's The Locomotive History of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway last night (being a Southern modeller), and was struck by a reference to that company's E class taking over the Newcastle - Ashford train once on Kentish metals. It struck me that I'd never actually heard of this train before, Newcastle to the South typically being Bournemouth or Southampton, in the West, and I did have a look in my other Southern texts but didn't find anything further on the matter.

(Text in square brackets my notes).

Bradley (p. 44) states that ''The Ashford - Newcastle train was routed over this difficult line [the Redhill - Reading cross-country line for joining the GWR/GCR line from Reading to Cambridge via Oxford and Didcot, presumably, where the LNER would pick the train up?] and being a convenient means of travelling between the South and North East coasts it was always well patronised. As a result it regularly loaded to ten corridors while twelve or fourteen were not unknown. The U's [SR design] and U1's were expected to handle the standard formation unaided, but when this was exceeded one of the E's was usually detailed as pilot''.

This suggests that the train was likely Southern coaching stock northbound, but whether there was a corresponding train in the southbound direction or if the train just alternated direction per day, I'm not sure. I anticipate there may be a 'partner' train which would be constituted from either Tourist stock or older corridor coaches, but I know very little about LNER carriages, so I wouldn't want to cast aspersions. Certainly, such inter-regional trains typically had two sets of coaches, one per direction, as far as I've observed.

Does anyone have any further information on this service, such as what it might have been composed of and a start year? The year 1938 seems about right but if there's anything earlier in the 1910s and 20s that matches, that would be very much of interest. I'm already aware of the GCR/GC Section Sheffield to Deal train which appears to have used the Barnum carriages, including a catering vehicle, but unfortunately this is as far as I have got in my research on that matter. I know it used a Brake Composite (First and Third), possibly drawing 4328-C? I believe this train took the same route outlined above, with the train being collected by the Southern company at either Banbury or Reading, where GWR and Midland carriages were added. This information, by the way, was gleaned from discussions with the LNER and GCR societies - my gratitude to the individual who handled my emails and was able to assist my enquiries.

Many thanks in advance for any information you can offer!

Alex

[AVSRailwaysUK]

An addition to this:

I learned yesterday the Newcastle service began in 1940 as a troop leave train, taking twelve hours and being routed via Banbury, as I expected.

As for services prior to this, they all went west, to Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Southampton. A bit of a shame in a sense, but I suppose transferring from King's Cross or Liverpool Street to an East London line or Widened Lines train would be just as simple. There's bound to be a means of getting from North to South.