Great American Railroad Journeys: Series 1

A companion to the phenomenally successful Great British Railway Journeys, this series sees Michael Portillo swapping his treasured copy of Bradshaw's handbook for its Stateside counterpart an 1879 edition of Appleton's Guidebook to the railroads of America and Canada.

This three DVD set features fifteen episodes covering two different journeys:

New York City to Niagra Falls
Phildaelphia to Jamestown

Michael takes two journeys traversing the north-east of the United States: the first takes him across New York State, from New York City to a birds-eye view of Niagara Falls via the state capital, Albany; on his second journey he crosses the mid-Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, travelling from Philadelphia to Jamestown via Washington, D.C.

Along the way he takes in Broadway, Ellis Island the gateway to America for millions of immigrants during the late 19th century the future World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the Military Academy at West Point, and Sleepy Hollow; he crosses the world's longest footbridge and visits the birthplace of the Mormon Church, hears the stories of African Slaves and visits the sites of battles that shaped the nation during the American Civil War before reaching the lands colonised by the earliest British settlers.