British Rail have in fact solved many of their problems during the past few years.
Not all of them, as most travellers know.
But our railways network is certainly taking on a slicker, more streamlined appearance.
Diesel and electric have taken over from the age of steam.
Still dotted around the country are relics of that romantic age.
But they're disappearing rapidly, cut apart for the melting pot
to become raw materials for much-improved carriages.
There are many who mourn the passing of the steam train - those great engines with great names
that broke speed records and made small boys gasp.
One of them was the Flying Scotsman - still very much alive and flying the flag for Britain.
The world's most famous engine was off to America on a trade-boosting mission.
From a Liverpool dockside, she was hoisted aboard a cargo liner for the Atlantic crossing.
On the other side, the engine, which was rescued from the scrap heap,
will follow a 2,200 mile route showing the people of the United States
carriage-loads of British goods.
For 6 weeks the Flying Scotsman will steam from Boston to Houston
giving American locomotive fans the treat of their lives.
The Flying Scotsman is expected to attract millions of visitors.
Who said the age of steam was dead!?
