Great American Railroad Journeys

Great American Railroad Journeys
Genre Travel documentary
Presented by Michael Portillo
Composer(s) Jon Wygens
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 15 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) John Comerford
Producer(s) Alison Kreps
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Boundless
Distributor BBC
Release
Original network BBC Two
BBC Two HD
Original release 1 February 2016 (2016-02-01) – present
External links
Website

Great American Railroad Journeys is a BBC travel documentary series presented by Michael Portillo and aired on BBC Two during an evening slot on consecutive weekdays.[1] Using an 1879 copy of Appleton's Guidebook to the railroads of the United States and Canada,[2] Portillo travels across the United States by train, making stops to learn how important historical sites, influential historical events, famous Americans, and the railroads of the 19th century, influenced the country's growth into a major superpower. The first episode was broadcast on 1 February 2016;[3] currently, only one series has been aired.

Episodes

Series 1 (2016)

In his first series, Portillo took two railroad journeys in the north-east of the United States, spanning a total of 15 episodes. His first journey took him across the US State of New York, travelling around New York City and Long Island before heading to Niagara Falls via New York's state capital of Albany and Buffalo. His second journey took him across the Mid-Atlantic States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, travelling from Philadelphia to Jamestown, via Washington, D.C..

In the original broadcast, the series featured fifteen 30-minute episodes. In a later showing, the series was revised to consist of eight 1-hour episodes, each one consisting of a re-edited amalgamation of two of the original episodes, with the exception of the "Brooklyn to Montauk" episode which was extended from 30 minutes to 1 hour.[4]

New York City to Niagara Falls

No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code		UK viewers
(millions) [5]
1"Manhattan: Grand Central to Broadway"1 February 2016 (2016-02-01)1.011.97
The first leg of Portillo's first railroad journey begins as he explores New York City via its Subways. Destinations visited include Grand Central, the Rockefeller Center, the Financial District, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Broadway. Portillo finds out about the American industrialists of the Gilded Age and the origins of New York's skyscrapers, while also viewing the operations of Grand Central and the art pieces contributed by the "Robber Barons" of the Gilded Age.
2"Manhattan: Lower East Side to World Trade Center"2 February 2016 (2016-02-02)1.021.84
The second leg of Portillo's New York railroad journey continues in New York City. Destinations visited include the Lower East Side, the former High Line, Ellis Island (via ferry), and the new World Trade Center. He explores the newly transformed High Line as a park and its preserved railroad history, sees how a tenement building looked to 18th-century immigrants and learns what helped to change their living conditions for the better and how many came through Ellis Island in a day, while also being instructed on how to make his first whiskey cocktail. He witnesses the inside of the future World Trade Center Transportation Hub and learns of the influence that 9/11 had on its construction (at time of filming).
3"Brooklyn to Montauk"3 February 2016 (2016-02-03)1.031.76
The third leg of Portillo's New York railroad journey moves out onto Long Island. Destinations visited include New York's boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, the "Gold Coast" - Oheka Castle, The Hamptons - East Hampton, and Montauk - Montauk Point Light. He listens to the story about the construction and benefits brought about by the Brooklyn Bridge, and what the East Side Access project aims to achieve and its progress, while learning what made the "Gold Coast" attractive to New York City's wealthy in the 19th and early 20th centuries, how the Lady's Village Improvement Society preserve East Hampton, and how important Montauk's lighthouse was to immigrants and how close it had come to being the gateway for new arrivals to America.
4"New York City to Garrison"4 February 2016 (2016-02-04)1.041.72
The fourth leg of Portillo's New York railroad journey focuses on the region surrounding the Hudson River. Destinations visited include Penn Station, New York, Tarrytown, Garrison, and West Point (via ferry). He learns more about Washington Irving, Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy) and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (The Sundance Kid), and Benedict Arnold, while also interviewing a few members of the Modern Police of Amtrak, visits Sleepy Hollow, sees a relic of the War of Independence and hears more about the American Civil War.
5"Poughkeepsie to Albany"5 February 2016 (2016-02-05)1.051.82
On the fifth leg of his New York railroad journey, Portillo heads north for New York's state capitol in Albany. Destinations visited include Poughkeepsie - Vassar College, the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge, the Catskill Mountains, the Hudson River School, and Albany. He learns more about Maria Mitchell and Thomas Cole, meets with New York Senator Neil Breslin (at time of filming), discovers more about Vassar College's origins and history, walks across the former Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge in its new role as the longest footbridge in the world, learns why tourists and artists admire the landscape of the Catskill Mountains by viewing it from the Catskill Mountain Railroad and a zip line, and hears about Albany's brewing history as well as tasting one of its ales.
6"Schenectady to Rochester"8 February 2016 (2016-02-08)1.061.70
On the sixth leg of his New York railroad journey, Portillo heads westwards for Niagara Falls, covering a total of 225 miles through the region that fuelled America's Industrial growth. Destinations visited include Schenectady, Utica - Erie Canal, Chittenango, Palmyra, and Rochester. He learns more about Thomas Edison, George Eastman and Joseph Smith, sees how L. Frank Baum is celebrated at his birthplace through the influence of his works, hears of the impact that the Erie Canal had when completed, experiences some of General Electric's modern railroad technology, investigates the history of the Mormon religion, and visits the oldest photography museum at Eastman's mansion.
7"Buffalo to Niagara Falls"9 February 2016 (2016-02-09)1.071.75
The final leg of Portillo's railroad journey completes his trip through New York state. Destinations include Buffalo and the Niagara Falls. He learns how Buffalo's position in the grain trade was improved by the railroads and the invention of Joseph Dart, lunches on the city's signature dish created by Teressa Bellissimo, hears how Colonel Ward's pumping station was built and views some of its pumps, and finally takes a bird's-eye-view of the Falls, one of the world's stunning natural landmarks that attracts more tourists than any of the United States national parks, before seeing it up close via boat.

Philadelphia to Jamestown

No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code		UK viewers
(millions) [5]
8"Philadelphia to Atlantic City"10 February 2016 (2016-02-10)1.081.85
The first leg of Portillo's second railroad journey, through the southern half of the Mid-Atlantic states, begins in Pennsylvania and the city from which America Independence was proclaimed. Destinations on this leg include Philadelphia - Philadelphia City Hall and Southern Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, the Eastern State Penitentiary (via subway), and Atlantic City. He learns more about William Penn, experiences American Football, tastes Philadelphia's signature dish, discovers how Atlantic City became a tourist hot spot, finds out more about a prison reform created in 19th century Pennsylvania, and visits Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
9"Lancaster to Gettysburg"11 February 2016 (2016-02-11)1.091.78
The second leg of Portillo's southern Mid-Atlantic states journey takes him through a rich agricultural region, famous for an important battle in the American Civil War and from where America's most historically important political speech was made. Destinations include Lancaster, Strasburg, and Gettysburg (via Harrisburg). He learns more about the Amish lifestyle, finds out how large an impact Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address had upon Americans, rides on the Strasburg Rail Road and learns of its history, and investigates how views on slavery were key to triggering the American Civil War while viewing the site of the famous Battle of Gettysburg.
10"Wilmington to Havre de Grace"12 February 2016 (2016-02-12)1.101.62
The third leg of Portillo's southern Mid-Atlantic states journey sees him travel between the states of Delaware and Maryland, across the Mason–Dixon line. Destinations on this leg include Wilmington, the Wilmington & Western Railroad, Newark - the University of Delaware, and Havre de Grace (via Aberdeen). He learns more about Éleuthère Irénée du Pont and John Smith, discovers how an early 20th century railroad innovation was demonstrated, investigates the origins and significance of the Mason-Dixon line, hears about the founding and history of the DuPont company including its involvement with gunpowder, and explores the region around the Susquehanna River that was seen by the first English settlers.
11"Baltimore to Fort McHenry"15 February 2016 (2016-02-15)1.11N/A
The fourth leg of Portillo's southern Mid-Atlantic journey takes him around the birthplace of America's railroads, the city of Baltimore. Destinations include the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Lexington Market, East Baltimore and Fort McHenry. He learns more about Johns Hopkins, hears about the origins of America's first railroad, views Peter Cooper's Tom Thumb, cooks up a Maryland Crab Cake, looks for a connection between the conditions of Baltimore's black community and slavery in the city's Civil War era, sees how philanthropy developed a hospital that became a global leader in healthcare, and finds out how heroism against the British was the origin for the nation's national anthem.
12"Washington DC"16 February 2016 (2016-02-16)1.12N/A
The fifth leg of Portillo's southern Mid-Atlantic journey brings him in to the capital of the United States and a city of political power, public architecture and monuments and memorials. Destinations include Freedom Plaza, the Library of Congress, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Washington Post, the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, and Ford's Theatre. He learns more about Abraham Lincoln, sees inside the printworks that create the nation's currency, hears the story surrounding the capital's origins following America's independence, finds out how Richard Nixon was brought down by the persistence of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, and visits the site where John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln.
13"Georgetown to Mount Vernon"17 February 2016 (2016-02-17)1.13N/A
On the sixth leg of Portillo's southern Mid-Atlantic journey, he concludes his exploration of the nation's capital before heading into Virginia. Destinations include U Street, Georgetown - United States Naval Observatory, Alexandria and Mount Vernon (via foot travel). He learns more about George Washington, listens to a jazz performance, visits the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery, takes part in an archeological dig into the United State's early years, finds out how standardized time and North America's timezones were devised by railroad companies, and hears how life was for African Americans from their slave days to the American period of segregation.
14"Manassas to Richmond"18 February 2016 (2016-02-18)1.14N/A
The seventh leg of Portillo's southern Mid-Atlantic journey heads south for the state capital of Virginia, through a region heavily influenced by the American Civil War. Destinations include Manassas, Fredericksburg and Richmond. He learns more about Virginia's history in America's beginnings and its Civil War, hears how great were the battles fought in Manassas during the Civil War, discovers more about bourbon corn whiskey and the process to make it, and attends a cotillion ball to find out how it shaped good manners in wealthy society.
15"Petersburg to Jamestown"19 February 2016 (2016-02-19)1.15N/A
On the final leg of Portillo's southern Mid-Atlantic journey, he reaches the lands that were first colonised by English settlers. Destinations include Petersburg, Norfolk, Williamsburg - Colonial Williamsburg, and Jamestown. He visits the USS Wisconsin, experiences life as a colonial settler, hears about the Underground Railroad and Gospel Choirs, finds out about naval conflicts in the Civil War including the first naval battle between iron-clad ships, and ends his journey by exploring the site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World and its history.

Books

A book to accompany the series, written by Michael Portillo and published by Simon & Schuster UK, will be released in February 2017.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Portillo takes to the American Railroads". FremantleMedia. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "TV Special (Documentary): Great American Railroad Journeys (Fremantle Productions for BBC)". DC.gov. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "S&S signs Portillo railway tie-ins". The Bookseller. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Great American Railroad Journeys: Series 1 Reversions". BBC Two. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 19 February 2016. (User must select "BBC2" in the Channel field and then select the appropriate year, month and week to retrieve the figure for each episode)
  6. ↑ "Great American Railway Journeys by Michael Portillo - Official Publisher Page". Simon & Schuster UK. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Great American Railway Journeys by Michael Portillo". Waterstones. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
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