7.8 /10 1 Votes
Composer(s) Jon Wygens Original language(s) English No. of episodes 35 (list of episodes) First episode date 1 February 2016 Network BBC Two Cast Michael Portillo | 7.7/10 IMDb Country of origin United Kingdom No. of series 2 Executive producer(s) John Comerford Genre Travel documentary Presented by Michael Portillo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Similar Great British Railway J, Great Continental Railway J, World's Most Dangero, Great Railway Journeys, Full Circle with Michael P | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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. Using an 1879 copy of Appleton's Guidebook to the railroads of the United States and Canada, 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 series was broadcast in February 2016, with a second series in January/February 2017.
Contents
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.
Series 2 (2017)
In his second series, Portillo took two railroad journeys around the midwestern and central regions of the United States, spanning a total of 20 episodes. His first recreated the experience that would have been felt by those travelling across the 19th century American Frontier, beginning in St. Louis, Missouri and travelling towards Kansas City, Dodge City, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, and finishing at the Grand Canyon. His second focused on discovering how the modern Midwest was made, beginning in the Twin Cities and following the Mississippi River, before heading towards Chicago, and then turning back southwards towards Minneapolis, eventually ejoining the Mississippi at the finishing point at Memphis.
Books
A book to accompany the series, written by Michael Portillo and published by Simon & Schuster UK, will be released in February 2017.