Coast to Coast (U.S.) - Great Railway Journeys of the World

Ludvig Kennedy crosses the United States via Amtrak in 1980 along some of the most famous vintage railroad routes (the Broadway Limited, California Zephyr, and Coast Daylight) in this terrific BBC production.
Highlights also include visiting old Dearborn Station in Chicago, the annual Golden Spike ceremony, and the California State Railway Museum in Sacramento.

[@harveysmith5914]

Thanks for finding and posting. Shame on the BBC for not putting this on iPlayer

[@jilltittley1613]

The great Ludovic Kennedy! My favourite episode of this series, I remember first seeing over 40 years ago!

[@TomedysTrains]

This Englishman and his camera crew were so lucky to ride Amtrak's Broadway Limited with the Pennsylvania Railroad "heritage" GG1 #4935 and a Pennsylvania Railroad private car from New York to Harrisburg.

[@thisisyou420]

TomedysTrains very lucky, I believe this was filmed between ‘79/‘80, and the gg1’s were retired in 1983.

[@jonathansanger862]

Yes, they were filmed around 1979-80 along with other programmes in this original British-made series.

[@randyburke4444]

I loved the part when they were in Chicago at the former Dearborn station that gentleman who was a kid at the time taking pictures of all the big stars would travel by train I bet that had to have been a sight to see

[@Pisca-kk5cs]

It’s something to see the coffee vibrating to pieces at 28:00 .. shows how bad the tracks were or how bad the trains were maintained or combination of both…

[@jfchonors8873]

That gentleman announcing trains at Penn Station was Danny Simmons who was probably the only bright spot in the station for about 20 years Always enjoyed when giving the final call for a departing train he would add his famous all aboard which you could hear at 2:57

[@railroadhistoryarchives]

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[@tonyrobertson498]

This to me is the best episode of that great series of railway programmes. So odd that the BBC has never released it on DVD. Trains, my favourite writer/TV presenter and the music of Bill Withers, what's not to like? Oh and the beautiful refrains of Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring Spring:-) Thanks for sharing

[@iWrick8111]

I listen to Lovely day everytime I wake up on Amtrak because of this show.

[@philbraithwaite1316]

One of many great series that went out on the BBC in the 70s and 80s culminating in Michel Palin’s Around the World in 80 Days. My education of sorts.

[@wiedep]

Taking the 'Red Ink Express'...

[@adamw2911]

Finally managed to go on the Zephyr having first watched it on here. Brilliant experience in a Roomette. One thing remains the same....there's some 'interesting' characters that ride Amtrak for sure......

[@Coach_McGuirk]

Too bad the rip quality is so horrible.

[@theuofc]

Thanks very much for sharing this! The narrator's name is LUDOVIC, not Ludvig. Best wishes.

[@FeiBenZhu]

I love the way they used Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring all throughout this documentary!

[@kamryneverett7184]

i realize it's kinda off topic but do anybody know of a good place to watch new tv shows online?

[@leonidasdominic603]

@Kamryn Everett I watch on FlixZone. You can find it by googling =)

[@nashthaddeus1321]

@Leonidas Dominic Yea, I have been using FlixZone for since march myself :D

[@kamryneverett7184]

@Leonidas Dominic thanks, I went there and it seems like a nice service =) I appreciate it!

[@leonidasdominic603]

@Kamryn Everett Happy to help xD

[@humblewoodcutter2754]

This is a really good show!

[@hamiltonharris9876]

Amazing!

[@gezag.hanniker1940]

I always crack up at 27.58 watching the coffee cup shake to pieces while recently I just taken the TGV from Basel Switzerland to Paris France at 195 mph and saw barely a ripple in my ice tea.

[@danielbliss8014]

With the track conditions at the time the BBC filmed this it's hardly surprising! That doesn't happen nearly as much now, though it really was an eye-opener to see how bad things had gotten when I took a train from Chicago to St. Louis in 2010 during the reconstruction of that line. They kind of worked that job from south to north. So at Thanksgiving 2010, about a third of the way through the job, from Chicago to about Lincoln, Illinois, the train was like a fun-fair ride; hard to stand up at times. Then we reached the new track and it was as if we were in another world; the 1980s-era Horizon-class cars on that train, designed more for local commuter services than intercity ones, suddenly started riding genuinely well.

[@Pisca-kk5cs]

I’ve done that trip from St Louis to Chicago 5 years ago…it took forever to travel from St Louis to the next station… once we got to the new track we were clocking past 100mph I think we maxed out 110mph … Amtrak needs a totally new line leaving St. Louis to the next station going north to get up to speed faster. Haven’t tried the new venture cars yet on Amtrak. Although tried them on Brightline and OBB and CD Railjet.

[@michlo3393]

There's something to be said about _feeling_ how fast you're going, vs the TGV model of looking out the window and saying to yourself "holy shit, we're really flying!"

[@dtaylor939]

USA USA USA