A whole lot of rail freight sounded like cattle after the first downpour (9)
I believe the answer is:
trainload
'a whole lot of rail freight sounded' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'cattle after the first downpour' is the wordplay.
'cattle' becomes 'load' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'first' indicates taking the first letters.
'downpour' becomes 'rain' (pouring rain).
The initial letter of 'the' is 't'.
't'+'rain'='train'
'load' after 'train' is 'TRAINLOAD'.
'like' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for trainload that I've seen before include "Many commuters" , "all those expecting to be late?" , "Express content" , "people aboard" .)