Great American Railroad Journeys

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 trans...

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 whe...

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 fi...

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 nati...

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 universi...

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 rai...

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 m...

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 fe...

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...

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 f...

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 Brit...

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 fr...

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 grab...

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 h...

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...