Report on the Derailment that occurred on 27th September, 1967 at Foxhall Junction, Didcot in the Western Region British Railways

"Mr. 0. S. Nock, a well-known author of books on railway matters, who, over the last 27 years has travelled more than 250,000 miles in trains, a high proportion of his journeys having been recorded in detail with point-to-point timings and stop-watch records of maximum and minimum speeds, was a passenger in the train, but unfortunately was unable to attend my Inquiry since he was abroad. However, in a written statement he said:-

"On leaving Reading I noticed that we were put over on to the Relief line, and at first we were running at fairly reduced speed. I took up my work again, and it was not until we were approaching Didcot that I realised we were travelling unusually fast for the Relief line. Our speed would have been quite normal for the Main line, on which the alignment is, of course, perfect far high speed travel. I did not take a precise reading, but passing through Didcot station I judged the speed to be between 70 and 75 m.p.h.

At this stage I grew very apprehensive because there was no slackening off. I. did not then know the exact nature of the layout at Foxhall Junction, and in the few seconds that remained I was expecting some brake application. I am quite positive, however, that there was none, and then the coach in which I was riding-the last but one in the train-was suddenly swept to the left and all was chaos immediately afterwards.

Two points stand out very clearly in my recollection of the affair:-

1. There was no brake application by the time my coach took the first set of facing points.
2. There was no appreciable reduction in speed between Didcot station, where we were travelling at 70 to 75 m.p.h., and the point of derailment. .
The fact that I was so near to the tail of the train would suggest that the engine and the leading vehicles had all negotiated the first crossing and part of the second crossing before any application of the brakes was made. .

After that, of course, it was impossible to know whether the brakes were being applied or not in our coach because we had lost all our wheels; in any case, an emergency application would have been made when the last coach broke clean away and turned over on its left hand side.

I would not be dogmatic, and assert that the driver did not apply the brake earlier; it is only that I was expecting a brake application every second after we had passed Didcot station and am confident that none came.""

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