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Great American Railroad Journeys

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Factual: Travel

Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America.

Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America, armed with Appleton's General Guide to the United States, published in 1879.

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Great American Railroad Journeys: Series 1

Michael Portillo

John Comerford

Alison Kreps

Boundless Productions

Great American Railroad Journeys: Series 1: Episode 6: Schenectady to Rochester

Episode 6

Episode 6: Schenectady to Rochester

Series 1

Schenectady to Rochester

BBC Two - Great American Railroad Journeys, Series 1, Schenectady to Rochester

In Utica, Michael Portillo investigates Lock 20 of 57 along the 19th-century Erie Canal.

Michael Portillo rides the railroads of America. Michael has a lightbulb moment in Schenectady learning about Thomas Edison's General Electric Company.

Michael Portillo continues his American journey, heading 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 Lock 20 of 57 along the early 19th-century Erie Canal - 325 miles of waterway which connected the Great Lakes with the Atlantic coast via the Hudson River. A yellow brick road beckons Michael to Chittenango, where a Kansas farm girl introduces him to a lion, and a tin man.

On a hillside near Palmyra, Michael finds out about a farm boy, Joseph Smith, and his Book of Mormon, from one of the 15 million believers who follow his religion today. Further west in Rochester, Michael discovers the story behind another famous 19th-century name still trading today: George Eastman, who launched mass market photography with his Eastman Kodak company.

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Great American Railroad Journeys

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Episode 6: Schenectady to Rochester

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