0:00:02 > 0:00:08I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America
0:00:08 > 0:00:10with a new travelling companion.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17Published in 1879, my Appletons' General Guide will steer me
0:00:17 > 0:00:22to everything that's novel, beautiful,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26memorable or curious in the United States.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Amen!
0:00:28 > 0:00:33As I cross the continent, I'll discover America's Gilded Age,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36when powerful tycoons launched a
0:00:36 > 0:00:39railways boom that tied the nation
0:00:39 > 0:00:44together and carved out its future as a superpower!
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I'm travelling through the Empire State of New York.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19I began on Manhattan Island and headed North through Poughkeepsie
0:01:19 > 0:01:23to the state capital, Albany, before striking west to Rochester.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Today, I'll continue west to Buffalo,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30then turn north to the spectacular Niagara Falls.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40I'm nearing the end of my journey through New York State.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44I'm approaching the Canadian border and the Great Lakes -
0:01:44 > 0:01:48bodies of water which are incomprehensibly enormous,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51as far as Europeans are concerned.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55And not surprisingly, they've loomed large in American history.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04On this final leg, I'll discover how westward expansion transformed
0:02:04 > 0:02:08Upstate New York into the nation's bread basket.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11At its peak, Buffalo moved enough grain to feed every
0:02:11 > 0:02:13person in the United States, today,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16a loaf of bread every single week.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19I'm offered a monster munch in Buffalo.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23- Well, they come in increments of ten - 10, 20, 50.- 50?!- 50 wing.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26And end with an awe-inspiring experience for which
0:02:26 > 0:02:30travellers at the time of my guide were unprepared.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33The very first thing you see is a great plume of mist.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43I'm continuing on a route recommended
0:02:43 > 0:02:47in my Appletons' Guide Book, crossing much of New York State,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50from Albany in the East to Buffalo in the West.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55The commerce of Buffalo, New York, is, according to my Appletons',
0:02:55 > 0:02:59"Very large, as it's position at the foot of the chain
0:02:59 > 0:03:03"of Great Lakes makes it the entrepot for traffic
0:03:03 > 0:03:06"between the East and the great Northwest.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09"Since the completion of the Erie Canal, in 1825,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12"its growth has been very rapid."
0:03:16 > 0:03:19- ANNOUNCER:- The station stop is Buffalo Exchange Street,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Buffalo Exchange Street!
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Buffalo's golden age dawned in the pre-rail era of the Erie Canal.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30This first all-water link connected the huge
0:03:30 > 0:03:34resources of the Great Lakes region in the Midwest, via
0:03:34 > 0:03:38the Hudson River, to the port of New York City, on the Atlantic Coast.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47It was a catalyst for commerce, industry and westward migration.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51Buffalo became the centre of the world's grain trade,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54employing a growing workforce of new immigrants.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Appletons' tells me
0:04:00 > 0:04:04that no visitor should leave without having seen the grain elevators.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08So, I'm meeting third generation Buffalo businessman Rick Smith.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Rick, you own some of these old grain silos, why?
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Well, I think it's all about, you know,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18the preserving and celebrating of the past.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21These were innovative things when they came into being
0:04:21 > 0:04:24and trying to regenerate that innovation today,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28having grown up next to these titans - it's a special thing.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35This is a Perot malt house, in a Perot malting elevator.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39This is where we're going to go meet Brad Hahn, who actually runs
0:04:39 > 0:04:41a lot of the tours of Silo City.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44I can't wait to see inside, amazing structures!
0:04:50 > 0:04:54So, Brad, why is it that, in Buffalo,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57we have so many of these extremely tall structures?
0:04:57 > 0:05:01Well, Buffalo was the end of the line for the trade route
0:05:01 > 0:05:04coming from the Great Lakes and the farms of the Midwest.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07America's bread basket headed East. The ships could get to Buffalo
0:05:07 > 0:05:10but could go no further because of Niagara Falls,
0:05:10 > 0:05:11along the Niagara River.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13Can you give me any idea of the scale -
0:05:13 > 0:05:15how much grain passed through here?
0:05:15 > 0:05:18At its peak, Buffalo moved 300 million bushels of grain,
0:05:18 > 0:05:20through this city, every year.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23That's enough grain to feed every person in the United States,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26today, a loaf of bread every single week.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28That is amazing!
0:05:28 > 0:05:33From its opening in 1825, the Erie Canal revolutionised the movement
0:05:33 > 0:05:38of grain, causing freight charges to drop from 100 to 10 a ton.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Irish scoopers transferred grain by hand from lake vessels to
0:05:43 > 0:05:47canal boats but the process was slow and clogged the harbour.
0:05:47 > 0:05:511842, a local merchant named Joseph Dart says there's a better
0:05:51 > 0:05:53way to do this.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57He comes up with a vertical conveyor belt, powered by steam,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00that had buckets on it, lowered into the hull of the ship, scooped
0:06:00 > 0:06:03up the grain and emptied those ships of 1,000 bushels per hour.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06So, they could unload one of these lake ships in a day,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09compared to a week and this revolutionised the process.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Why do the silos need to be so tall, what's the point of that?
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Well, they wanted to store as much grain as they possibly could
0:06:16 > 0:06:18and this enabled a gravity system.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21So, once they used that conveyor belt to get the grain to the top of
0:06:21 > 0:06:24the complex, then it was gravity to bring it back down,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27so they could take it out to either ship it to the east or to mill
0:06:27 > 0:06:31it, to malt it or turn it into some other finished product.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37Silo City grew into the world's largest grain port, with 27
0:06:37 > 0:06:40of Dart's elevators lining the harbour.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43The railroads increased the quantities of grain
0:06:43 > 0:06:47that could be transported out of the city and speeded the journey.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51By 1900, Buffalo had become the second busiest rail
0:06:51 > 0:06:53centre in America, after Chicago.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56It had great significance not only for the United States
0:06:56 > 0:06:58but for the entire world
0:06:58 > 0:07:01because the grain passing through Buffalo wasn't just for people
0:07:01 > 0:07:04here in Buffalo, it was to feed the rest of the United States,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07along the East Coast and in Europe, as well.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10One of the reasons the Erie Canal was successful was because a lot of
0:07:10 > 0:07:12that grain was going to Europe
0:07:12 > 0:07:14and it was going through the Industrial Revolution,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16a lot more people to feed.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21In 1907, the wooden elevators were replaced with concrete ones.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25These structures, the first sky scrapers of New York State,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28which would inspire the generation of European
0:07:28 > 0:07:31architects behind the Bauhaus school of design.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35If you think of some of their catch mark slogans, for example,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39"Form follows function", you really can't find any purer example of that
0:07:39 > 0:07:42than here at the grain elevators, where you have a function
0:07:42 > 0:07:46of storing and moving grain and the buildings reflect that entirely.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49And, Rick, in your dream,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52what can be the function of this place in the future?
0:07:52 > 0:07:55We have two floors, in essence, we have the feed
0:07:55 > 0:07:59floor at the bottom and then we have this floor, up 100 feet.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03So, upstairs can be utilised as great living quarters
0:08:03 > 0:08:06because you've got miles around, you can see everywhere.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Then, the feed floor can be just about anything a normal
0:08:10 > 0:08:13building can be but a very cool nightclub or a very cool...
0:08:13 > 0:08:17things to have art shows or galleries.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21Those are kind of the really great functions that we could
0:08:21 > 0:08:23repurpose them with.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33When in Buffalo, do as the Buffalonians do.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34So, with lunch beckoning,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38I'm ready for the city's most celebrated snack.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Hi, welcome to the Anchor Bar, home of the original buffalo wing.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Buffalo wing? I didn't know buffalos had wings.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50They don't, actually, but chickens do and that's what we've got
0:08:50 > 0:08:52going tonight.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54How did this dish get started in Buffalo?
0:08:54 > 0:08:57It got started back in 1964 when one of the owners of the
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Anchor Bar, Teressa Bellissimo, created the Buffalo wing.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Her son was tending the bar and some of his friends came in and they
0:09:04 > 0:09:07didn't want Italian food, they wanted something different.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09She said, "You know what?
0:09:09 > 0:09:12"I've got these beautiful wings that I was going to put in a stock -
0:09:12 > 0:09:14"let me see what I can do with it."
0:09:14 > 0:09:18So, she experimented and out came the first order of chicken wings,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20with the unique hot sauce on it.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22What choices do I have to make?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- Well, they come in increments of ten - 10, 20, 50.- 50?!
0:09:25 > 0:09:2850 wings, yeah, and you can have them hot, medium, mild,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31barbeque, suicidal...
0:09:31 > 0:09:34OK, look, erm, I don't know, give me a kind of medium size plate.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37OK, well, I'll hook you up then, all right.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- You hook me up, thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45Buffalo's legendary wings are deep fried, then coated in a vinegar
0:09:45 > 0:09:49and Cayenne pepper hot sauce, before yet another fry.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Well, here you go, medium portion, medium spiciness,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59the original Buffalo wing, I hope you enjoy them.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01- Thank you very much indeed. - We'll get you some napkins.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06Only in America could that be regarded as a medium portion!
0:10:10 > 0:10:15So, cool it down with a little celery,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17dip it in a little blue cheese...
0:10:20 > 0:10:22..mmm, that's spicy!
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Ooh, that is hot!
0:10:25 > 0:10:27A little beer.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Fire, fire brigade!
0:10:41 > 0:10:45During Buffalo's rapid 19th century growth, it was transformed
0:10:45 > 0:10:50by a rail network of more than 700 miles of track within the city.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57Founded in 1853, the New York central railroad,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59connecting Buffalo with Albany,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03later came under the control of the rail tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07It became a dominant force in the Northeast,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10stretching from Illinois to Massachusetts and from
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Michigan to West Virginia.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17In 1865, Buffalo was a stop on the route of President Lincoln's
0:11:17 > 0:11:21funeral train after his assassination.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Citizens flocked to view the casket of the man who saved the union
0:11:25 > 0:11:27and freed the slaves.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33During the 20th century, Buffalo's 14 million central terminal
0:11:33 > 0:11:37opened to great fanfare, just months before the Wall Street crash,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39in 1929.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43Built to service 200 trains and 10,000 passengers daily,
0:11:43 > 0:11:48this art deco masterpiece never lived up to its promise.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51The grand halls became increasingly deserted,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56as air and automobile travel supplanted the trains.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Today, it's being restored.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Another of the city's architectural highlights is the 12 acre
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Colonel Ward Pumping Station,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10which was the largest ever built in the United States.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12I think you'll like this, Michael.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15- Am I in for a treat?- Yes, you are.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20I'm getting a tour from plant superintendent, Patrick J Martin.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23That is a thing of beauty!
0:12:23 > 0:12:28What a magnificent hall and incredible antique machinery.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Where is that machinery from?
0:12:30 > 0:12:32The machinery was put in in 1907,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35that's when the original construction happened
0:12:35 > 0:12:36and was finished in 1915.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38- Can we get a bit closer?- Sure!
0:12:41 > 0:12:46The population of Buffalo had grown to 350,000 by 1,900.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Irish and German immigrants found work in the new steel
0:12:50 > 0:12:54and automobile industries, attracted to the city by cheap
0:12:54 > 0:12:57hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01The demand for clean drinking water grew steadily, until
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Buffalo's public works commissioner,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Colonel Francis G Ward,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09found a reliable source at the mouth of the Niagara River.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Huh-ho, this is a wonderful, somewhat vertiginous view.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Erm, so tell me about the project,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20what had to be done to bring the water to Buffalo?
0:13:20 > 0:13:23They built this plant right on the shores of Lake Erie,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25and they had to actually tunnel out onto the lake
0:13:25 > 0:13:27and went 6,600 feet onto the lake
0:13:27 > 0:13:29and they had to tunnel down below the bedrock
0:13:29 > 0:13:31and went down 70 feet to get to the area in the lake what we call
0:13:31 > 0:13:34the Emerald Channel, which sits on top of limestone.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36It's crystal clear water out there in the middle of the lake.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40They were able to get good quality water to all the residents.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Tunnelling 70 foot down, I'm thinking,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44how did they keep the water out as they did that?
0:13:44 > 0:13:46What they were doing was actually put a pressurised chamber,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48steel bulkhead, and they actually
0:13:48 > 0:13:50pumped in compressed air into the chamber to
0:13:50 > 0:13:54keep the water out while they were tunnelling and they were blasting.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Because it was a pressurised area, the men could only work
0:13:56 > 0:13:59in about three-four hour shifts, otherwise they would get the bends.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Said to be the largest construction ever built on the Great Lakes,
0:14:05 > 0:14:10a 6,600 foot tunnel connected the channel to the pumping station.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Each one of these pumps has the capability of doing
0:14:15 > 0:14:1730 million gallons of water per day.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22Five pumps that gave us 150 million gallon capacity.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27Standing 60 feet tall, these five 1,200 horsepower steam driven
0:14:27 > 0:14:32pumps each had two 30-tonne fly wheels to drive their pistons.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37The pumping station remains one of the largest in the world today.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43It's a great pity that it doesn't run anymore under steam.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Do you, personally, have any memory of these engines?
0:14:46 > 0:14:48It's kind of funny you ask.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51My father used to work with the water department
0:14:51 > 0:14:55and when I was a young child in the late '60s, early '70s, I actually
0:14:55 > 0:14:58came into this plant and one of these was in operation.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01It was amazing seeing one of these big, huge pumps just turning
0:15:01 > 0:15:02and it was very quiet.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05And it's marvellous that they have been preserved.
0:15:05 > 0:15:06How is it that they've been kept?
0:15:06 > 0:15:10In the '80s, there was discussion to remove them
0:15:10 > 0:15:13and sell them for scrap and at that time my father was
0:15:13 > 0:15:16the director of the water and he said that we sell water, not scrap.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20And we still have a historic jewel because of that.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23I think, this evening, if I go down to the banks of Lake Erie, I'm going
0:15:23 > 0:15:26- to raise a glass to your father. - I'm sure he'll appreciate that.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35I'd been struck by Buffalo, as Appletons' was.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39With the finest harbour on Lake Erie, formidable canal basins
0:15:39 > 0:15:44and soaring grain elevators, New York State's second largest city
0:15:44 > 0:15:48retains the excitement of its 19th century boom.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11It's the last day of my first American railroad journey
0:16:11 > 0:16:16and I'm about to fulfil one of my greatest ambitions.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18TRAIN HORN SOUNDS
0:16:22 > 0:16:26I'm heading 22 miles towards the Canadian border.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31- Niagara Falls?- Niagara Falls.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Who else is going, Niagara Falls?
0:16:33 > 0:16:38Here almost a fifth of the world's fresh water drains from four of the
0:16:38 > 0:16:44Great Lakes into the Niagara River before emptying into Lake Ontario.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50Here are just some of the words used by Appletons' to describe Niagara.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55"A profound chasm, water tossed about tumultuously.
0:16:55 > 0:17:02"Great whirlpools and eddies, an inextricable turmoil of water."
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Yes, I'm headed for a falls.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14You've got two walkways, one there, one there.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Do not walk across the rail.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Before I witness the natural wonder for myself,
0:17:24 > 0:17:29I've an appointment with Niagara Falls's mayor, Paul Dyster.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31I'm thinking this is a very exceptional place that probably,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34what, for two centuries you've been a tourist magnet.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39Yes, sometime after the conclusion of the war of 1812, in 1815,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42we started drawing visitors from around the world here.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Some of it, I think, coincided with the coming of the railways,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48which opened up a new way to travel.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50The method of travel was exciting
0:17:50 > 0:17:53and then you had an exciting destination at the end of the line.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Romantic 19th century landscape painters like Frederic Church
0:18:00 > 0:18:03inadvertently advertised this iconic spot.
0:18:03 > 0:18:09His picture of 1857, once described as the finest oil painting
0:18:09 > 0:18:13this side of the Atlantic, toured the East Coast Britain and Paris.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15How many visitors do you have?
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Somewhere between eight and nine million visitors, which is
0:18:18 > 0:18:20more than visit any of our national parks.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22You're quite a big city too,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25so do you manage to spread that wealth amongst the population?
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Well, it's one of our ambitions but I think it's difficult.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30We were, for much of our history, an industrial city
0:18:30 > 0:18:32and there's a transition that's under way here.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34We've lost industrial jobs
0:18:34 > 0:18:37but gained jobs in the tourism sector. That requires people
0:18:37 > 0:18:40to change their training, get new types of education, maybe
0:18:40 > 0:18:45change their outlook on careers and that can be a wrenching experience.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Now, there are two cities called Niagara Falls,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52one in Ontario, Canada, one in New York State - rivalry between them?
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Friendly rivalry, yes.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Friendly rivalry. We have an annual tug of war on the rainbow bridge.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01We close down the border crossing so that our police departments
0:19:01 > 0:19:05can line up and duke it out over bragging rights for who's got the
0:19:05 > 0:19:08strongest policemen for the next year.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11I'm afraid the Canadians won this year.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Formed at the end of the Ice Age, Niagara's three falls
0:19:19 > 0:19:22consist of the American and Bridalveil Falls,
0:19:22 > 0:19:27on the United States' side, and the Horseshoe Falls in Canada.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29In the late 1890s,
0:19:29 > 0:19:35Niagara was famed for producing the world's first hydroelectric power.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38This is my first close encounter with Niagara Falls
0:19:38 > 0:19:42and I hadn't expected to get this near, it's just a few feet away.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46The other thing that is unexpected to me is how far it stretches.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50The other part of the waterfall is far away and then this plume
0:19:50 > 0:19:54of mist rises infinitely until it merges with the clouds.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04I see all these crowds of people here of every conceivable
0:20:04 > 0:20:07nationality and many of them may have
0:20:07 > 0:20:09thought of visiting all of their lives,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13as indeed I have and I'm just wondering whether Niagara Falls
0:20:13 > 0:20:15has lived up to their expectations.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21- Are you visiting Niagara Falls for the first time?- Yes.- Yeah.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25- What do you think of it.- Gorgeous! It's really, really beautiful!
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Is it as good as you hoped it would be?
0:20:28 > 0:20:32I did read about that before because I was very excited
0:20:32 > 0:20:35but I told my sister not to read about it.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37So, for you it's been a complete surprise?
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Yeah, it is very beautiful.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43It's actually better than I thought it would be, with the weather
0:20:43 > 0:20:48and everything, the way the mist comes off the water, love it!
0:20:48 > 0:20:51- Where are you from?- I'm originally from Nottingham, England.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55- You don't sound like it at all! - I've been in the US since 1978.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Can you still do a Nottingham accent?
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Unfortunately not, unless I'm around my family.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04- It takes a while to come back.- Have your family seen Niagara Falls?
0:21:04 > 0:21:06No, they keep saying they're going to come
0:21:06 > 0:21:09and actually I texted them earlier today, they said,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11"Hey, when we were visiting, we never went there!"
0:21:11 > 0:21:13So, next time, I'm hoping to bring them out here.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Yeah, they'll love it, won't they?
0:21:16 > 0:21:21For 19th century tourists, Niagara epitomised the limitless new world.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Wilderness in all its grandeur and terror!
0:21:25 > 0:21:29The railroads brought travellers from afar and presented
0:21:29 > 0:21:31money making opportunities,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35which attracted many a publicity seeking daredevil.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40In 1860, when Britain's Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII,
0:21:40 > 0:21:45visited the falls, he was spellbound by the French tightrope walker
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Charles Blondin carrying his assistant across the gorge.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Since then the falls have been braved in barrels,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57rubber balls, even on a jet ski.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01But I'm not quite that level of daredevil.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Appletons' recommends that you spend two days seeing Niagara Falls
0:22:05 > 0:22:08but tourists don't have that sort of time today.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11And, in any case, with new technology, you can take a quick
0:22:11 > 0:22:13bird's eye view.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16HELICOPTER BLARES
0:22:22 > 0:22:26As the helicopter rises the very first thing you see is
0:22:26 > 0:22:31a great plume of mist, where the water has hit the lower area
0:22:31 > 0:22:33and risen in a great cloud.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38Then, as you come up, over the top, you have this extraordinary view
0:22:38 > 0:22:41of the falls range below you.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43That incredible torrent of water.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00From up here you can appreciate the six million cubic feet of water
0:23:00 > 0:23:02that pour over the crest every minute,
0:23:02 > 0:23:06reaching speeds of up to 68 miles per hour.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12The 19th century tourists who came here, relatively unprepared,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14with no television, with only crude photography, would have
0:23:14 > 0:23:18been flabbergasted by this scene.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20But I have to say that I am too,
0:23:20 > 0:23:24I've known these falls in images since I was a child
0:23:24 > 0:23:28but it's my first time here and nothing has prepared me for it.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31The power of nature, the force of the torrent
0:23:31 > 0:23:34and the extraordinary beauty of this scene.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Since the time of my guide book,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44these falls have receded almost 150 metres.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48A rate of erosion that in recent years has been slowed by flow
0:23:48 > 0:23:51control and diversion to hydropower.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54And there in the midst of the torrent
0:23:54 > 0:23:57and enveloped in the mist is a little boat.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00It seems almost incredible that it can be safe to navigate
0:24:00 > 0:24:03through that fury of water.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09And there's really only one way to find out what it's like in that
0:24:09 > 0:24:13awesome deluge.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15- One adult ticket for the boat, please.- 17.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Thank you very much indeed. Bye-bye.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23- We're going to get wet, are we? - Yeah, you're going to get real wet.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Now, naturally, that's defeated me.
0:24:32 > 0:24:33Does it just go around you?
0:24:47 > 0:24:52Finally, with my blue poncho tamed, I'm ready to follow illustrious
0:24:52 > 0:24:55visitors from President Roosevelt to Marilyn Monroe.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02I'm putting my faith in the Maid of the Mist, a fleet of tour boats that
0:25:02 > 0:25:06has navigated tens of millions of people to the
0:25:06 > 0:25:09centre of the swirling mist since 1846.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15From here the waterfall is half obscured by the spray,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18which actually just makes it all the more impressive.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Now, you begin to get a sense of the height of the waterfall.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I mean, it's as though we've all been miniaturised.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29You get this feeling of human frailty in the power of nature.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50I think of all those words in my Appletons' Guide,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52which attempts to describe the fury,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55the ferocity of the water and none of them is adequate.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59When you get close to the torrent it just is overpowering!
0:26:23 > 0:26:27We're being buffeted and soaked and everybody's anchoring down,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30trying to escape from the spray.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32But actually it's completely uplifting
0:26:32 > 0:26:37and a wonderful rainbow has appeared through the mist.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Keep your eyes open, people, it's worth seeing!
0:26:51 > 0:26:53We've pulled away from the falls now
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and this is the calm after the storm and everybody's absolutely
0:26:57 > 0:27:00thrilled by what they've seen and what they've experienced
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and I think pretty relieved too to be out the other side.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19From Manhattan's natural harbour to Niagara Falls,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22my journey seems to have been about water.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27The Hudson River and the Erie Canal brought enormous riches
0:27:27 > 0:27:29to New York City.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33Immigrants flooded across the Atlantic to Ellis Island and in
0:27:33 > 0:27:38a Gilded Age, tycoons flaunted their wealth on the shores of Long Island.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43But it was thanks to New York City's tangle of commuter
0:27:43 > 0:27:47railways that it became the world's greatest metropolis.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Next time I begin my second American railroad journey in the city
0:27:54 > 0:27:58that sealed America's independence, Philadelphia.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59HE GRUNTS
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Hey, Rocky, yay!
0:28:03 > 0:28:07I'll travel south through the capital, Washington DC...
0:28:10 > 0:28:14I just love American locomotives with their great, big, long horns.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19..taking in local tastes and traditions...
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Mmm, that's pretty good, isn't it?
0:28:21 > 0:28:27..and discover the epic events that made this nation what it is today.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31This war, if it's going to come to a close, if the North's going to
0:28:31 > 0:28:33succeed, it's going to come with
0:28:33 > 0:28:36union preserved and slavery eliminated.