Michael reaches a milestone on his American journey: the boundary between the northern and southern states, known as the Mason-Dixon line. He discovers the origins of what became for black Americans the border between slavery and freedom, in an 18th-century English dispute over land. On the Wilmington and Western Railroad, Michael meets the passenger train Phoebe Snow, created by the railroads at the turn of the 20th century to reassure passengers that clean burning coal wouldn't make their clothes dirty. Michael uncovers the explosive history of gunpowder production in Delaware, begun by a Frenchman, whose chateau still stands. He then takes a boat trip up the Susquehanna River following the route taken by one of the first English settlers, John Smith.
Overview
Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America, armed with Appleton's General Guide to the United States, published in 1879.
Michael begins his American odyssey in New York City. Starting at Grand Central Terminal, the 'gateway to the nation', he boards the Manhattan subway system, the busiest rail transit system in the US. His first...
S01E02 Manhattan: Lower East Side to World Trade Center
February 2, 2016 29 min
Michael continues his American journey in Manhattan's Lower East Side, where he narrowly avoids a scrap with an historic gang of New York and visits the grim tenement buildings where thousands of the city's immigrants...
From Manhattan, Michael follows his Appleton's Guide east, travelling on the Long Island Railroad. He begins in Brooklyn, where he learns the incredible story behind the world's first steel suspension bridge. Divided by a common...
Michael follows America's mighty Hudson River north, riding on the United States' national rail carrier service, Amtrak. He learns from Amtrak's police chief about some of the nation's most infamous train robbers, then upriver at...
Michael Portillo continues his railroad journey through New York State following his Appleton's Guide. Beginning in the city of Poughkeepsie, he visits a famous all-female university, alma mater of Jane Fonda and Meryl Streep. He...
Michael heads west through New York State. He has a lightbulb moment in Schenectady, when he discovers how Thomas Edison's General Electric Company also leads the way in modern rail technology. In Utica, he investigates...
Michael braves the awesome power and drenching spray of Niagara Falls on the Maid of the Mist to share what artists, daredevils and millions of tourists have billed as one of the most spectacular experiences...
Michael embarks on a new railroad journey from the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, south to the first permanent English colonial settlement in North America, Jamestown. He feasts on a gargantuan Philly cheesesteak, then looks...
Michael hitches a ride with the Amish in a horse-drawn buggy through rich countryside settled in the 18th century by religiously oppressed Europeans. Charmed by their modest way of life, he watches as they sell...
Michael reaches a milestone on his American journey: the boundary between the northern and southern states, known as the Mason-Dixon line. He discovers the origins of what became for black Americans the border between slavery...
In Baltimore, home of the first railroad in the United States, the Baltimore and Ohio, he discovers how the first American steam engine, the Tom Thumb, owed much to pioneering British technology. He investigates race...
Michael arrives in the nation's capital, Washington DC. He admires its fine public buildings, including the largest library in the world, and discovers how the capital was built from scratch after a political compromise between...
On this leg, Michael soaks up some old-school jazz in Washington's U Street neighbourhood, where the big band jazz king, Duke Ellington, was born and began his career. He also grabs a bite at Ben's...
Michael Portillo arrives in Manassas, scene of two crucial battles during the American Civil War - the first railroad battles in US history. In Fredericksburg, Virginia, he tries his hand at bottling bourbon corn whisky...
In Petersburg, Virginia, the choir of the First Baptist Church is in fine voice as Michael discovers how, during the 19th century, coded messages were delivered to slaves who hoped to escape via the so-called...
