Appletons guide 1879, and Michael Portillo...

[caravanman]

Hi,

Michael Portillo is a former UK transport minister from the time of Mrs. Thatcher.

He has a genuine interest in trains and history, and has made an interesting series of TV programmes with train trips and visits to towns and sites, all based on an historic, Victorian age Bradshaws rail tour guide.

Starting in the UK, he has also covered many Continental cities, using a later 1913 guide.

Tonight, I was delighted to see he has started his trips over the pond... Not sure how far he will go, the first 30 minutes were all in New York, taking in Grand Central station, and riding the metro to famous sites.

He mentioned Appletons guide of 1879, is this an old New York city guide, or was it like the Bradshaws, a nationwide tour guide based on train travels?

Ed.

 

[Chaz]

Appleton's 1867 Guide can be downloaded for free via Google Books

see upper left for 'free'

https://books.google.com/books?id=EqbhAAAAMAAJ

Other editions also avail (see the same page)

I imagine Mr Portillo will carry a print version of Appleton's with him...just as he carried an old Bradshaw's European gude for earlier programs.

Link to Wikipedia's info page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appletons%27_travel_guides

Central Pacific RR Museum page on early guides including Appleton's

http://cprr.org/Museum/Ephemera/Travel.html

The fifteen 30 min shows just began on BBC2 (avail only in the U.K,.). The first 4-5 programs center on NYC & the Hudson River

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06zzfy5/great-american-railroad-journeys-1-manhattan-grand-central-to-broadway

Many articles on-line announcing it Here's 1:

http://www.boundlessproductions.tv/news/read_michael-portillo-takes-to-the-american-railroads_item_100157.htm

"Following the success of both Great Continental and Great British Railway Journeys Michael Portillo is set to explore America by rail for a brand new BBC Two series,Great American Railway Journeys (w/t).

"Leaving behind his trusty European Bradshaw guides Michael will present the 15 x 30 minute series by retracing nineteenth century railway journeys across the United States. Each episode will offer a fascinating insight into American history as Michael sets out to rediscover an often forgotten story of a land built by the railroads.

The railroads were once an unknown, mysterious and at times, dangerous world to the frontiersmen and pioneers who used them to make their fortune, conquer new territories and start new lives. In this series, Michael will get a glimpse into an era of immense political, social and cultural change for post-Civil War America.

Michael Portillo says: “Now that Bradshaw's guides have shown us much of the United Kingdom and swathes of the European continent, I feel excited to be heading for the United States, epic railroad country. But with no Bradshaw's to steer us there, we will all have to get used to a new mentor…”

John Comerford, Head of Boundless West, and Executive Producer adds: “We are delighted to be embarking on a new series of journeys with Michael Portillo across a different continent. The age of the railways was a hugely rich period in America's history and Michael is a unique talent to guide us through it.”'

http://www.boundlessproductions.tv/news/read_michael-portillo-takes-to-the-american-railroads_item_100157.htm

I imagine Portillo will carry a print version of Aplleton's with him...just as he carried an old Bradshaw's European gude for earlier programs.

 

[caravanman]

Gosh, that is a lot more info than I knew, thanks for that. Dunno if it will ever show in the USA, so if you want to know about your early railroads, you will have to ask me... but not 'till after I watch the programmes.

Indeed, Michael was carrying the Appletons book. Bradshaws is quite well known in the UK, often mentioned in Sherlock Holmes stories... Is Appletons well known stateside?

Ed.

 

[Barton Keyes]

Portillo is not to everyone's taste. He's a failed politician who tries a bit too hard to be 'whacky' with his odd clothes and quirky interviews. His love of trains seems genuine enough though and his adventures in the US should be watchable.

His new series has been showing in the UK this week and is slow-going so far. Not nearly enough about trains and far too much about him eating pizza, dancing the Charleston, etc. He scarcely mentions the contents of the Appleton Guide, which probably isn't too relevant for modern day Amtrak travel. He should probably have taken Bradt's USA by Rail guidebook instead and concentrated more on the trains.

 

[caravanman]

As you will have seen from his UK and Continental train programmes, that is the format of the programmes. They are about trains only in part, and also about how the development of railways connected the towns and cities, and he cites some historic places to visit by train in the old days.

A modern guide book, and a programme about modern rail travel would be a very different programme.

I quite like the non train parts, as they show places of interest which are accessable by train. I liked the Long Island programme for that reason, showing the gold coast and the lighthouse at the islands tip.

It is a general interest programme after all, showing at peak times, and as such I feel it does a fair job.

I confess to being on the opposite side of the political spectrum to Mr. Portillo, but his quirky outlook appeals to me.

Ed.

 

[user 6862]

Having seen 3 or 4 programs of this series now have to say it's much more interesting than his last 2 European series, New York obviously has a lot to offer. I'm about in between the two of you above and get frustrated when there's more time given over to dancing the Charleston than rail travel.

The most difficult for me is 'Great' in the title of any of his series as sometimes he only travels 30 or 40 miles in an entire program (most Europe ones are 1 hour long) and there's nothing heroic or Great about that amount of rail travel, many commuters travel much more than that twice each working day.

Even though he has not travelled far from Manhattan in 4 programs this series has more about trains than recent European ones and has also appeared to give Mr Portillo a new lease of (railway) life.

 

[caravanman]

I guess I don't know how interesting a programme of a presenter just being on a regular passenger train would be, especially for a peak time tv audience? I feel the historical and non train stuff is needed to sell the programme to the viewing public?

Chris Tarrant did a few programmes about "extreme railways", in Africa, India, and Australia which were rather good.

At the end of the day, any programme about train travel, even with minimum train content is better than no programme, as it could suggest places to go, and things to see, etc. I feel it keeps train travel in the public eye, as a realistic travel option.

Ed.

 

[Chaz]

See thread from March 29 with Youtube links to the BBC 2 Portillo shows and also about Bill Connolly's ITV series ("Tracks Across America")

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/67517-amtrak-ld-journeys-on-british-tv-starting-this-week/