16) Here is the answer. This is an aerial picture of one of Britain’s marshalling yards, where trains of wagons destined for different parts of the country are broken up, re-formed, and sent on their journey again as new trains. The wagons are shunted in slowly at one end, uncoupled, and redistributed throughout the fan of sidings. Each of these tracks takes wagons destined for a certain area – London, Liverpool, Scotland, wherever it may be – and incoming wagons are directed on to these tracks according to their destination. Most goods trains run to a timetable just like passenger trains, of course – so when it gets near time for a train to leave for London, there are all its wagons standing on one track ready to be coupled up into a train.

This yard, by the way, is at Crewe

---