Why wagonload is consigned to history

The popular perception of the goods train has as much contact with reality as Thomas the Tank Engine. This, though, is not our fault. In the UK and in many parts of Europe, the universal road sign for a level crossing shows a silhouette of a steam engine. Two points to make. Anyone who passed their UK driving test in the last sixty years is unlikely to have seen a steam engine on a level crossing. Second, there should be a warning that trains come from all directions to ambush you, not just out of the sun.