This was a radio programme put together in England for the BBC in the late 50s or early 60s and is about the railway industry. In particular it is about a crash in which John Axon, the driver of a goods (freight)train stayed on board the locomotive in what proved a fruitless, and fatal, attempt to prevent the run away locomotive crashing. For this he was posthumously awarded the George Cross.

Ewan McColl & Peggy Seagar wrote the music for all the eight ballads in the series, which covered such differing topics as the herring fishing fleet, and Britains nomadic peoples..

In the Ballad of John Axon programme there are several verses of the song about John and the incident, interspersed with dialogue, but the song finishes with a sound effect crash and there is no obvious concluding verse. What I wish to find out is if Ewan McColl ever wrote one and performed, or recorded, the ballad as one single song?

If anyone wants the ballads the whole series is available on CD from Topic records.