David Harrison was six at the time of the crash and lost his brother, sister and aunt in it.
A plaque has been unveiled as a memorial to 17 people who died in a West Midlands train crash 61 years ago.
An express train travelling from York to Bristol derailed and overturned at Sutton Coldfield station on 23 January 1955.
Relatives, rail staff, emergency service representatives and people who tried to help in the aftermath were at the unveiling at the station.
These included David Harrison, 67, from Herefordshire, who was on the train.
The campaign for the memorial was spearheaded by the Sutton Coldfield Observer
He lost his brother, sister and aunt in the crash.
He said: "I remember that my brother and sister, John and Jean, were squabbling in the corridor of the train and my mother called them into the compartment."
Mr Harrison said he was feeling sorry for himself for being left in the corridor when, the next thing he knew, he was flat on his back and unable to see his family where he thought the compartment should be.
Eventually, his father found him and passed him through a window of broken glass before he was passed along a line onto the platform at Sutton Coldfield.
David Harrison, who had been on the train as a six-year-old, said he had not been back to Sutton Coldfield station until the memorial unveiling. He lost three members of his family in the crash.
Later, at Good Hope Hospital, he was taken to see his injured mother, who was told her sister, daughter and son had died.
"I recall her crying," he said. "It affected all our lives."
The train, carrying 300 passengers, had been diverted from its usual route through Tamworth because of maintenance work.
The driver, who was unfamiliar with the track, was travelling at twice the speed limit when the crash happened.
As well as the 17 who were killed, 23 were injured according to the Railways Archive, external.
The Sutton Coldfield Observer, external spearheaded the campaign for the memorial.
- Published24 January 2016
- Published23 January 2015
