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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 13: Georgetown to Mount Vernon

Episode 13

Episode 13: Georgetown to Mount Vernon

Series 1

Georgetown to Mount Vernon

BBC Two - Great American Railroad Journeys, Series 1, Georgetown to Mount Vernon

Michael Portillo explores a former slave market in Alexandria, Virginia.

Michael Portillo continues his US adventure. Heading south to Alexandria, Virginia, he explores a former slave market. He ends this leg in Mount Vernon.

Armed with his 1879 edition of Appleton's General Guide to the United States, Michael Portillo continues his American railroad journey.

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 grabs a bite at Ben's Chili Bowl, the legendary diner chosen by President Obama for a snack before his inauguration. He follows his guidebook to the United States Naval Observatory, the nation's timekeeper, where he discovers how and why the railroads established four time zones across the continent in 1883.  

Heading south to Alexandria in Virginia, Michael explores a former slave market and hears how African-Americans were bought and sold. He ends this leg in Mount Vernon, the palladian home of the nation's first president George Washington, where he gets into a spot of bother at an archaeological dig.

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Episode 13: Georgetown to Mount Vernon

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