Philadelphia to Gettysburg Great American Railroad Journeys

I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America...

..with a new travelling companion.

Published in 1879, my Appletons' General Guide

will steer me to everything that's novel...

beautiful...memorable

or curious in the United States.

-ALL:

-Amen.

As I cross the continent I'll discover America's gilded age,

when powerful tycoons launched a railway boom

that tied the nation together

and carved out its future as a superpower.

At the time of my Appletons',

travellers arriving in the United States encountered a nation

where industry was beginning to boom

and people were being drawn to the cities.

Huge changes were afoot in American society,

and the divisions, which had lately erupted in a civil war,

were never far from the surface.

I'm embarking on a new railroad journey,

heading south from the city in which the United States has its origin.

In Philadelphia, where my journey begins,

American revolutionaries declared independence

and the principle of government by consent.

Yet by the time my Appletons' Guide was published

just over a century later,

thousands of Americans had been killed

in a mechanised civil war, in which railways played an important part.

I hope that my journey passing through the nation's capital

and the greatest battlefield of that civil war

will help me to understand the price that the United States paid

for the contradiction rooted in their foundation.

That the land of the free, was the home of the slave.

On this journey, I begin in the City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia.

I continue through the American Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg,

before turning south to Baltimore in Maryland.

I take in the nation's capital - Washington DC -

continue to Richmond, Virginia, and end in Jamestown,

the first permanent English colonial settlement.

On this leg, I explore Philadelphia.

I make an excursion to Atlantic City.

Then strike west to Lancaster and the lush landscape

which is home to the Pennsylvania Dutch.

In Strasburg, I discover Train Town USA.

I'll finish in Gettysburg.

'In Philadelphia I discover how the city flexed its financial muscle...'

Philadelphia in the 19th century

was the manufacturing heart of the United States.

'..taste an American institution...'

I think I should have had it with the molten cheese, but,

to tell you the truth, Cheez Whizz just put me off.

'I unleash my inner demon.'

Argh!

And fulfil a long-held dream.

A memorable moment for me, my first trip on the footplate

of an American steam locomotive.

TRAIN WHISTLES

I've arrived in Philadelphia,

which, according to Appletons', was founded by William Penn,

who came over from England in 1682,

accompanied by a colony of Quakers.

It then became the largest city in the United States -

the capital of the nation.

And its railway station received

lines from east and west and north and south.

A 20-minute walk from 30th Street Station

brings me to City Hall,

which opened in 1901, and until 1908 was the world's tallest structure.

On the top, a magnificent 27-tonne statue of William Penn

proudly surveys his city.

A wonderful view.

Philadelphia laid at my feet.

Shan Holt, a historian at Penn State University,

is going to be my guide to the city from this rooftop eyrie.

-Hello, Shan.

-Hello, Michael.

Good morning. Welcome to Philadelphia.

Thank you very much.

And thank you for meeting in such a spectacular place.

Well, you're welcome.

Tell me about William Penn.

He was an extraordinary product of the 17th century.

He was an aristocrat who turned his back on his background

and became a Quaker,

broke with his father, went to jail...

According to Appletons',

Penn arrives here with a colony of Quakers.

What was the character of what they founded here?

Penn was looking to found a colony dedicated to religious liberty.

He wanted a place for Quakers to safely practice their religion,

because they couldn't do that in the old country.

So he chose a plot of land on the Delaware River because,

of course, trade and commerce was all water-based in the 17th century.

So if you were near the river, you could be prosperous.

William Penn made a treaty with Native Americans,

and true to his Quaker beliefs named his city after

the Greek words for love - philos - and brother - adelphos.

Philadelphia - the City of Brotherly Love.

Philadelphia in the 19th century was

the manufacturing heart of the United States.

Steel, railroads, textiles, leather, transportation all centred here.

I'm very interested in railways,

and I assume that they played a big part in the development of the city?

The Pennsylvania Railroad, which was founded here and headquartered here,

was the largest railroad in America right into the 20th century.

Pennsylvania Station in New York, Pennsylvania Station in Baltimore

all named for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Wow. Thank you, Shan. This has been a wonderful place

to understand Philadelphia's towering ambition.

Philadelphia's ambition was on full display

in the Centennial Exhibition.

It was held in 1876 in Fairmount Park,

which Appletons' tells me is the largest city park in the world.

The exhibition celebrated 100 years of the United States

and its growing industrial might.

It attracted around ten million visitors,

with railroads bringing crowds

from across the country and the world.

Today the only building remaining is Memorial Hall.

Appletons' tells me that this

trade fair was based on the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London.

But I'm thinking that just one of these exhibition halls

would have been bigger than the Crystal Palace.

And here were shown innovations.

Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the typewriter.

Inventions that would transform our lives.

And Philadelphia showed to the world that, for all its brotherly love,

it was fearfully competitive.

Walking back into downtown Philadelphia, one building

is distinguished, not by its size,

but by its momentous history.

Independence Hall, says Appletons',

is the most interesting object in Philadelphia.

"Here, on July 4th, 1776,

"the Declaration of Independence was adopted and publicly proclaimed."

Imagine a crowd of 2,000 people hearing those words,

in prose that was as elegant as it has been enduring,

announcing a new relationship

between the people and their government.

In the Pennsylvania State House, the Founding Fathers declared

independence, and asserted that all men are created equal

and entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And that, more than that, if a government failed to

guarantee those benefits, men were entitled to reform it or abolish it.

There are more than 100 democracies in the world today

that more or less pay tribute to those then-original principles.

This bell already hung in the Pennsylvania State House,

and it bore the Biblical inscription,

"Proclaim liberty throughout the land."

But at the time of the formation of the United States, declaring that

all men had been created equal,

there were millions of slaves.

And in the 19th century, this bell became the symbol of those

who would abolish slavery.

Philadelphia is also known as the City of Neighbourhoods.

Philadelphians are proud of their city,

but they hold a special affection for their own district.

A half-hour stroll south from Independence Hall

takes me to South Philadelphia, and Pat's King of Steaks -

home of the Philly cheesesteak.

This is very intimidating. It says, "How to order a steak."

And it says, "If you make a mistake,

"just go to the back of the line and start over."

But it also says, "Practise the above while waiting in line."

So I've got to specify whether it's with, or as they say here, wit,

onions or without onions.

And then I have a choice of things here.

I think I've got it, I think I've got it. OK.

-Can I help you?

-I want a steak wit American cheese, please.

-American with onions?

-Wit, wit.

-What did you think of my ordering? Was it OK?

-That was great.

-American wit.

-American wit, American wit.

-I understood it.

-How much is that, sir?

-10.

-Oh, wow.

That's more than I've got, I think. Hang on.

I was told to have my money ready. This is very terrifying now.

-That's why we put the sign up there.

-There we go, sir.

So why is this so famous in Philadelphia, this cheesesteak?

We're the inventor of the steak sandwich.

-What, this very shop? This very place?

-Yes, it is.

-How long has it been going, then?

-Since 1930.

And you've sold a few in that time, have you?

A few. More than a few.

-OK, great. Thank you very much.

-You got it.

Hi, there. Do you mind if I join you a second?

-Go ahead.

-Oh, thank you.

Are you a great connoisseur of cheesesteaks?

-Do you eat cheesesteaks a lot?

-Um...coming to Philly I do.

Are you from outside Philly?

I am. I just moved to North Jersey, and then drove all the way

from North Jersey here to have a cheesesteak.

That is amazing.

-And is it as good as you thought?

-It is, it's perfect.

How did you order yours? What did you have in yours?

-OK, so, I got the cheesesteak with Whiz.

-That's molten cheese.

I didn't even know what Whiz was.

And then I was like, "Oh, cheese Whiz."

What did you get in yours?

I've got American cheese and it's "wit" onions.

-That's pretty good, isn't it?

-It's amazing.

-A tasty steak.

I think I should have had it with the molten cheese,

but, to tell you the truth, Cheez Whiz just put me off.

Well, thank you very much. It's been a real joy sharing lunch with you.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Bye-bye. Take care.

Take care. Have a good one.

The food in the United States is so gargantuan that I feel

I need to take a run to keep fit.

And I'm inspired to do so

by Philadelphia's greatest fictional hero - Rocky Balboa.

But in order to get myself going, I need his theme music.

MUSIC: Theme from Rocky

Go, Rocky!

Rocky!

My next stop is the University of Pennsylvania,

which Appletons' tells me occupies,

"Spacious and substantial stone buildings

"at 36th and Locust Streets."

The university grew out of a school established

in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin -

a Founding Father of the nation.

It's one of the elite group of eight Ivy League colleges,

which includes Harvard and Yale.

The spacious and substantial buildings mentioned

in Appletons' are still here,

and they create a sense of heritage and of history,

and they seem to exude an excellence.

And these pathways provide a wonderful meeting place

for students - a real sense of community.

Oh, to be young again!

Penn's American football tradition

is amongst the oldest in the country.

They've played over 1,350 games -

more than any other college team.

Their stadium, Franklin Field, opened in 1895,

making it the nation's most historic college football venue.

This football field has a capacity of more than 50,000 spectators,

which makes it bigger than the average English Premier League football club.

And you have to remember that this is just the college game!

I've agreed to a crash course in American football.

And I'm entering the Franklin Field locker room with trepidation.

I'm now going to get myself into the famously fearsome

American football kit.

This should provide some useful protection.

HE GROWLS

To help me get to grips with the on-pitch complexities,

I'm meeting Ray Priore, head coach of the Penn football team.

-Good to see you, Coach.

-Nice to meet you.

-How are you?

I'm just thinking, I don't really understand the rules of football,

but does it derive from British rugby?

Definitely from British rugby.

A very physical game, where there's tackling.

And I believe in English rugby

the passes can go only backwards, where in American football

you're allowed to throw the ball down the playing field.

In the late 19th century,

American universities adapted the game of rugby.

Their changes to the rules included

reducing the size of the team and the pitch,

and introducing limited attempts

to travel ten yards towards the goal line, known as downs.

The game is measured by getting what is called a first down.

We have four opportunities to gain ten yards,

and then really on the third opportunity,

when it turns to the fourth, you have the chance to go for

what's called a first down,

or punt the ball to the opposition.

So then they have the ball

and they have the ability to try to score on you.

OK, OK. I think I follow that.

Now, listen, Coach.

I'm a little bit self-conscious today.

It's the first time I've had pads on.

I'm anxious to blend in.

-How do you think I'm doing?

-I think you look pretty good.

Why don't you try putting the helmet on?

I have a feeling I'm going to need this.

There you go, that looks good.

Nice and snug.

5-7, let's see the grunt!

Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!

-Hello.

-Hi.

-What are we doing here?

The only objective is to punch this as hard as you can, OK?

And when you hit it I want a nice grunt.

-Let me hear your grunt now.

-HE GRUNTS

No, no, no. Louder.

-HE GRUNTS LOUDER

-There we go, there we go.

-I'm going to hit it with my body?

-No, no, no.

You're going to hit it with your hands and your helmet.

Let's practise the grunt again. Let me hear it.

-HE GRUNTS

-There it is! Go!

HE ROARS

Close, close. OK, easy, easy.

OK. All right, all right.

Now I need a little more oomph today.

Let me hear your grunt.

HE GRUNTS

Ah!

Good job, good job. Good job, good job.

-My man. Good job, good job.

-Good coaching, man.

-No problem, no problem.

-Good coaching.

-It's not quite soccer.

-It isn't.

I don't usually feel this dizzy after soccer.

Am I ready for the big match?

-Uh, you know...

-MICHAEL LAUGHS

-You've got a little work to do.

-OK.

THEY BOTH GRUNT

Get down!

Well, that wasn't quite as embarrassing as I'd feared.

Time to rest my aching limbs before continuing my journey tomorrow.

It's a new day, and I'm in search of sustenance, American-style.

Breakfast is a big deal in the United States.

And some of what's on the menu is familiar to Europeans -

eggs and bacon and so on.

But what about this one? Peanut butter and jelly French toast.

Weird.

There's just me, you know.

-It's big, but it's delicious.

-It's big.

SHE CHUCKLES

-Thank you, thank you very much.

-Enjoy.

So, um... It's arrived with lots of things that weren't advertised,

like whipped cream and peach.

And actually I'm...so put off by the quantity, there's just

far too much. But anyway, I'll...

have a go at this.

We'll add a little...banana, there's peanut butter there...

Here comes the jelly.

We will add a little whipped cream, so many calories.

It is delicious. Delicious.

Today I'm taking the subway from Race-Vine to Fairmount Station

to visit an innovative building.

2 and a quarter.

Thank you.

New thinking in the New World made Europe take notice.

Up to the 19th century, most prisons were no more

than crowded and violent holding cells.

In 1787, a group of largely Quaker reformers, calling itself

The Philadelphia Society For Alleviating The Miseries Of Public Prisons,

proposed a radical idea.

"The Eastern Penitentiary," says Appletons',

"resembles a baronial castle." And so it does.

"The separate, not solitary, system is adopted here.

"Each prisoner is furnished with work,

"and is allowed to converse with the chaplain and prison officials,

"but not with any of his fellow prisoners."

An interesting experiment in prison reform.

I wonder whether it worked.

The society lobbied Pennsylvania to adopt its suggestions.

And 30 years later the effort paid off.

The Eastern State Penitentiary opened in 1829.

The prison had seven wings with individual cells.

It had running water and central heating,

at a time when the White House had neither.

In the century after it was built,

more than 300 prisons across the world copied its novel design.

The way the prison was run was also radical.

Sean Kelley, the senior vice president of the Penitentiary Museum,

is meeting me to explain more.

Sean, my Appletons' tells me

that here in the prison they adopted the separate, not solitary, system.

What was that?

The system was inspired by the Quaker belief in the inner light -

the sense that all people are good.

And so they believed that

if they kept people in separation, they would spend that time

looking into their hearts, and eventually all people would make

the correct moral decision to behave themselves, to fit into society.

When the prisoners came out of their cells, didn't they see other prisoners then?

They covered their heads with hoods.

They would never see another inmate, they would rarely see other staff members.

They had no books, only the Bible.

But no letters from home, no visitation.

I can see that this system was based on an intellectual idea -

rationalism.

But did it have its opponents and critics in its day?

The most notable critic was Charles Dickens.

And he visited the building in 1842, and he went back to England.

He wrote his book American Notes about his experience

in the United States, and he devoted a full chapter to this building.

He acknowledged that the people who built this prison

had the best of intentions, but he went on to say

he thought they had no idea what they were doing.

He wrote, "I hold the slow and daily tampering with the mysteries

"of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body."

Do we have any idea whether it was

actually successful in rehabilitating prisoners?

It's really hard to know.

But a psychiatrist or psychologist today will tell you

that prolonged isolation is in fact destructive.

Finally, in 1913, the separate system was abandoned.

By then, the world knew it as the Pennsylvania System,

and its legacy was long-lasting.

In some European and Asian countries, reform didn't come

until after the Second World War.

I have been in cells that were smaller than this,

but in the Eastern Penitentiary the punishment was lack of society.

I'm a gregarious person.

To me, not to be able to speak to other people,

that would be the worst punishment.

And I don't believe that it would lead me to sit here in silence,

reflecting on the errors of my ways,

but rather maybe to plan vengeance on a system that had used me so ill.

With my thoughts full of crime, punishment and redemption,

I head east, out of Philadelphia,

on an excursion recommended by my Appletons' -

across the New Jersey state border to Atlantic City.

This city is built on a sand barrier island,

just off the New Jersey coast.

It was first linked to the mainland by rail in 1854.

"Atlantic City," says Appletons',

"is a favourite resort of the citizens of Philadelphia,

"and draws thousands of visitors from all parts of the country.

"The regular bathing hour is 11 o'clock,

"but gentlemen are allowed to bathe without costume before 6am."

I don't know about you,

but I'm not attracted to nude bathing on a rainy day like this.

I'm meeting Heather Perez -

archivist from the Atlantic City Free Public Library -

to learn how the city and its famous boardwalk became a tourist hot spot.

-Welcome to Atlantic City.

-Thank you.

It's lovely to be here, even on a rainy day.

What were the origins of Atlantic City as a resort?

Well, in 1854 Dr Pitney got the idea

of making Atlantic City a health resort.

So those tourists would come over

and enjoy the health benefits of the ocean air and the sea.

And so he got together with some of his buddies in Philadelphia

and they incorporated the Atlantic City Railroad System, which brought

the railroads into Atlantic City, and consequently, all the traffic.

And apparently, according to my Appletons' Guide,

by the 1870s it's really successful, bringing visitors,

not only from Philadelphia, but from all over the country.

That's true. Certainly.

Thousands upon thousands of people came

to Atlantic City during its heyday.

The boardwalk is very famous.

When did that originate?

The boardwalk came into being in 1870.

The hotel owners were upset

because all these women in their long gowns would track that sand

on into their lobbies, and they were tired of sweeping it up.

So they got together and came up with this idea of laying boards

on the sand for the ladies to promenade on.

The boardwalk became a permanent fixture,

but the advent of the jet age saw the crowds dwindle.

To reverse the decline, the city legalised gambling in 1976.

Today it's the casino capital of the East Coast.

This place is on a dizzying scale.

You can scarcely see one end of the room to the other.

In the centre here we've got the blackjack,

we've got the craps, we've got the roulette.

Every conceivable way of getting people to gamble their money.

Hello. Do you mind if I chat to you for a moment?

Go ahead, chat away.

Do you do this very much?

-Two or three times a week.

-Really?

These things are programmed so that you lose.

-So presumably you lose more than you win?

-Absolutely.

MICHAEL LAUGHS But you still do it?

Sometimes you can do pretty good,

even at 40 cents, if you get the right hit.

You never know.

-I wish you the right hit. Bye-bye.

-Thank you.

-May I interrupt you two just a second?

-Sure.

How's it gone this afternoon? How you doing?

Well, I'm hoping to get a ten here,

-and I got a ten.

-Oh!

-Oh, my God!

-21.

-You must be good luck.

-21.

I'm bringing you good luck. I think I should stay.

Absolutely, you totally are. I think you should stay as well.

-But actually, I have to go. It was nice to meet you.

-Oh, right.

-Good luck to you both.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Thank you very much.

Personally, I'm more attracted to bed than to the card tables.

This morning, I'm heading west through the green and pleasant

Pennsylvania landscape.

According to Appletons' - I'm passing through,

"One of the richest agricultural districts in America.

"Which will be apt to remind the tourist

"of the best farming districts of England."

I think I'll discover that one part of the Pennsylvania countryside

had a decisive influence on American history.

It was a field of battle, not of crops.

I'm making for Lancaster, Pennsylvania,

in the heart of Amish country.

From there, I'll head south to ride America's oldest

short-line railroad in Strasburg.

I'll discover the sweetest town on earth

and finish my journey on the battlefield of Gettysburg.

Describing a part of Pennsylvania, Appletons' tells me that

"the inhabitants of this district are chiefly of German origin

"and a dialect of German, known as Pennsylvania Dutch,

"prevails extensively among them."

I'm hoping to see the diversity of the United States today

and to glimpse a simpler way of life that was more widespread

at the time of my guide.

-TRAIN ANNOUNCER:

-At Lancaster, most doors will open. Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Thank you very much. Bye-bye.

This delightful railway station belongs to Lancaster, Pennsylvania,

which Appletons' tells me "is pleasantly situated near

"the Conestoga Creek."

Having arrived here by electric train, I hope to be transported back

not just to the age of steam, but to that of the horse and buggy.

When William Penn founded the state that bears his name, he wanted

it to be a haven for the religiously oppressed from across the world.

This rural part of Pennsylvania is known for its Amish population.

The Amish are one of three religious communities here

who lead a simple life.

The groups were created after divisions

in the Swiss Anabaptist church in the 16th century.

Persecuted in Europe, many of them emigrated to follow in Penn's footsteps.

They became known, confusingly, as the Pennsylvania Dutch.

I'm meeting Jack Meyer, a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer,

to learn more about the community and its origins.

-Hello, Jack.

-Hello, young man. Nice to see you.

Very good to see you and very nice to be in your barn

-and to be with your beautiful horses.

-Thank you.

-So, Jack, my guidebook tells me about the Pennsylvania Dutch...

-Yes.

..and I'm just wondering, who are the Pennsylvania Dutch?

Well, they're people that came from Holland.

Some actually came from Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland

and they compose basically of three groups - Amish, Brethren and Mennonites.

-Which of those three are you, by the way?

-Brethren.

Might we take a ride in one of your buggies and talk a bit more?

-Sure, we can. No problem.

-Great.

We'll back right out of here...

Though a few arrived earlier, the largest migration

of the Pennsylvania Dutch to America occurred in the early 18th century.

The strictest amongst them believe that modern technology will

undermine their tightknit communities.

So, since before my Appletons', the roads of Lancaster County

have echoed to the sound of horses' hooves.

Jack, how many Pennsylvania Dutch are there, do you think?

-In the state of Pennsylvania - ten million.

-Really?

That's all sorts and kinds, that's not just horse-and-buggy people.

-No.

-That's folks who dress on the street,

you know, just the same as you would.

Horse-and-buggy people -

and how many of those do you think there are?

Well, in Lancaster County, for instance, there are about

30,000 Amish, 15,000 horse-and-buggy Mennonites -

so we're looking at 45,000 that still use horse and carriage.

-Do you use a mobile telephone?

-People are allowed to do that, a lot depends on your church district.

The Brethren have them, the Mennonites have them.

The Amish have them, some of the folks will tell you their district

doesn't allow them to have them.

For instance, the district we're in right now

doesn't allow for a power lawnmower.

You have to use the old push-type with the reel,

but that district down the hill there will allow you to use a lawnmower that has a motor.

Now, that's very interesting, then.

-So, the district is very powerful in that respect.

-Right.

There are about 100 Amish districts in Lancaster County.

Is the number of people leading the traditional life going up or down?

It's going up. About 85% of the young people stay,

so the size of, for instance, the Old Order Amish church is doubling

every 20 to 25 years.

And why is that happening, Jack?

For folks on the outside it might seem to be a very backward

way of living, but it's a very enjoyable lifestyle.

So, is there a moment in life when a young man or a young woman

makes this decision to stay or to go?

Normally, in their teen years.

There's a set of rules in the church, let's say.

Nobody is forced to follow those rules.

You know, it's because you want to.

You're not forced to join church, but as far as individual liberties

or choices in religion - a person should have their choice.

That's where it all began.

Coming from an urban environment,

I couldn't imagine existing in the country.

And I was amazed to discover that those who are choosing to live

the Pennsylvania Dutch traditional way of life is on the increase.

But I shouldn't have been, because really it's not hard to explain

how some people would choose community,

neighbourliness, godliness,

in preference to the globalised rat race.

You might think that such a distinct lifestyle would set

the Pennsylvania Dutch apart from others around them,

but that's not what I find.

I've come to the fire station in Strasburg, Pennsylvania,

where there's an auction going on and it seems to consist

mainly of the Pennsylvania Dutch selling some of their items.

Very intriguing.

INDISTINCT AUCTIONEER CHANT

INDISTINCT AUCTIONEER CHANTING

-Hello.

-Oh, hello.

I'm a stranger in town, this seems to be a rather extraordinary event, does it happen very often?

We do two sales - one in the spring and one in the fall.

The stuff that is being sold here is mainly home-made items

that have been prepared by the Pennsylvania Dutch community.

Many of the items, yes. There's wood crafts and there's also quilts.

So, the fire company does get a bit of the money that they're sold for

and the rest goes back to the person who made it.

So, you take all your fire engines out for the day

-and hand this space over to the sale?

-That's correct, yes.

And who are the buyers mainly, do you think?

We get buyers from all over the eastern United States.

We get a lot of people from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey.

A lot from Pennsylvania and Maryland and Delaware.

There is shops in New York that do specialise in Amish quilts,

so they will come down and it's pretty easy to pick them out

because they buy a lot of quilts, maybe 20 or 30 while they're here.

I've just been looking at the quilts that have been on sale. They're stunning.

-Yeah, most of them are very, very nice.

-So, if a quilt goes for 350,

any idea how many hours of work that might represent?

It could be hundreds of hours, depending on the amount of stitching that's in it

and the detail that they decide to put in the quilt.

INDISTINCT AUCTIONEER CHANT

Sold. 175. 349, 349.

INDISTINCT AUCTIONEER CHANT

Sold. 350.

Apart from its Amish heritage,

Strasburg holds another interest for me.

In the early 19th century, the town became prosperous

because it was on the cross-state wagon trade route.

But in 1834, the new railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia

bypassed Strasburg and the town feared decline.

To save it, a group of local businessmen

built a branch to the main line.

It opened in 1837 and it's operated continuously ever since.

And Strasburg itself is affectionately known as Train Town, USA.

-Hello!

-Hello, there.

-Are you Bill?

-I am, sir.

-I'm Michael.

-Hi, Michael.

-How do you do?

-Can I help you with the oiling up?

-Certainly.

These two cups actually feed oil down onto the piston rod and the valve stem.

These are already full, but they need to be set so they don't drop too much oil and waste it.

So, that's what these little knobs do right here. You actually would just open it up to a quarter turn...

That's moving nice and freely.

-Close it up fully a quarter turn.

-Right.

-Great.

-This can has a different kind of oil in it...

-Right.

..and this gets poured into the weak spots here on the bottom part of the crosshead.

-Thank you.

-It's just a squirt.

After some light lubrication,

I'm thrilled to join Bill on the footplate.

Whoa! This is hot and this is big.

HEAVY THUD

TRAIN BELL DINGS

-Ready to move, Bill?

-We are.

A memorable moment for me, my first trip

on the footplate of an American steam locomotive.

By the end of the 1830s,

the United States had overtaken Europe in rail construction,

with 3,000 miles built compared to 1,800 across the Atlantic.

And Pennsylvania was in the vanguard of the railroad revolution,

with a quarter of all US track.

Thank you.

Bye, guys.

With the locomotive securely attached to its carriages,

I'm joining the passengers for the 45-minute trip.

TRAIN BELL DINGS

TRAIN CHUFFS

Pennsylvania has the most wonderful rural landscape,

but with apologies to Appletons', it doesn't in any way remind me of England.

-Hello!

-Hello.

-I hope you're enjoying the ride.

-Yes, we are.

May I ask you, what made you take the trip today?

We do this every so many years.

We come back to Lancaster, tour around and always ride the railroad.

Because you enjoy railroads in particular, or what?

We enjoy railroads and the countryside

and seeing the Amish farms.

-Are you keen on railways?

-I like the railroad.

I grew up about half a mile from a double-track rail line

and I hung around the rail line quite a bit.

It's not just travelling with a vintage steam locomotive

in an old observation car like this that makes me feel that I'm

travelling through history, it's also the look of the countryside,

with its very traditional architecture of barns, that takes me back in time.

I want to find out more about the history of this splendid line

from the Strasburg railroad stationmaster, Steve Barrall.

-Hello, Steve. I'm Michael.

-Hi, Michael.

-Good to see you.

To what do we owe the preservation of this magnificent railroad?

Ever since 1958, it's been our mission to make sure that this railroad is preserved

as an example of early 20th-century, small-town steam railroading.

And who was it who got together and saved it?

Well, Strasburg railroad was on the verge of abandonment,

but in 1958, there was a group of 24 railroad buffs and industrialists

that came together and decided to save the railroad.

-Thank goodness.

-Absolutely.

Now, you seem to have a pretty broad collection of rolling stock

and locomotives and that's a big part of what you do, is it? To restore the old?

Absolutely. We have a machine shop that's very instrumental in preserving

not only our own equipment but the other equipment throughout

other tourist railroads in the United States.

Part of what makes this a great experience is that we seem to be

-moving through a very traditional rural landscape.

-Absolutely.

We're privileged to have a line that goes through Amish countryside.

Because of that, the Amish really help to preserve not only our line,

but the landscape around us, as it was, really, in the early 20th century.

So, you have a very bucolic pastoral view as you go along the Strasburg railroad.

So, we have a beautifully preserved heritage railroad,

we have a very traditional countryside

and, if I may say so, you've dressed the part, too.

-HE LAUGHS

-Well, thank you.

We all try to do our part to make this a place that folks can

have fun and hopefully it's a little bit of a step back in time.

STEAM TRAIN HORN TOOTS

BELL TOLLS

HORN TOOTS

After the wonderful sights, sounds and smells of the Strasburg railroad,

I'm spending the night in the old Lancaster cork works,

now converted to a hotel, before continuing my journey tomorrow.

-Good evening!

-Hi, good evening. Welcome.

-Checking in.

-The name is Portillo.

-Perfect. We have you on the top floor.

-Here are your keys.

-Thank you so much.

-Have a great evening.

-Thank you.

Today, I'm rejoining the Keystone Service that runs down from New York,

as it continues west to the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg.

From there, I'll head about 20 miles east to a

town built not long after my guidebook was published.

They call it, "the sweetest place on earth." Hershey.

I'm meeting Pam Whitenack, director of the Hershey Community Archives,

to learn more about the world's largest chocolate factory.

And the town that bears its name.

-Hello, Pam.

-Hi, Michael, it's good to meet you.

Hershey - the town and the chocolate brand seem to have the same name.

How come?

Because they were both created by one man -

Milton S Hershey. Who came here in 1903

to build a chocolate factory for his rapidly growing chocolate business.

But he also wanted to build a model industrial town.

So, he came here because it - one, offered lots of fresh milk,

this area was known for its dairy herds.

But it also offered a lot of open space for him to

-build this model town.

-Where had he started his confectionery business?

Milton Hershey's first confectionery business was a caramel company

and that was started in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

But he was intrigued by the idea of using milk to make

milk chocolate, which at that time was a very closely guarded Swiss secret.

Hershey experimented, and in 1900 he hit upon a

formula which allowed him to mass-produce milk chocolate.

He began to market it across America,

using the expanding rail freight network.

Hershey had grown up in the strict Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite community.

He had limited formal education, but with an apprenticeship

and a 150 loan from his aunt, he became one of America's

most successful businessmen and one of its greatest philanthropists.

He wanted to create a town that would

enhance his workers' lives.

He provided lots of opportunities for recreation and culture,

theatres, libraries. Everything that would make

the town a very attractive place to live.

-And also to visit.

-And you can walk down Chocolate Avenue,

or Cocoa Avenue, and all the street lamps

are made to look like chocolate drops.

We call them "Hershey's Kisses," and they are a landmark,

people come from miles around just to see our street lamps.

During the Second World War,

almost all the company's production capacity

was devoted to manufacturing chocolate for the troops -

the Ration D Bar.

Over three billion units were produced and they became a poignant

and patriotic memory of home.

The Hershey Bar's place as an American icon was sealed.

Today, Hershey is the headquarters of a worldwide confectionery company,

which employs 13,000 workers.

Hundreds of thousands of gallons of milk from Pennsylvania dairy farms

are delivered each day.

Along with almonds from California and cocoa from around the world.

Sweets and mints and other snacks are now

made alongside chocolate bars, under 80 different brand names.

My guidebook recommends a place no longer on the passenger rail network.

So, I must travel the final 40 miles by road.

My destination is Gettysburg -

site of the American Civil War's most famous battle.

Appletons' tells me that "a great battle,

"perhaps the most important of the Civil War, was fought here

"at Gettysburg on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July, 1863.

"Between the national forces under General Meade

"and the Confederate army under General Lee."

Abraham Lincoln arrived at this station in November 1863,

to attend a dedication ceremony to the thousands of Union dead.

In an address, he defined the Civil War as a fight not just to end

the rebellion of the Southern slave-owning states,

but also for the nation to enjoy a new birth of freedom,

so "that government by the people, of the people, for the people,

"shall not perish from the earth..."

and for equality, as promised in the Declaration of Independence.

I've arranged to meet Peter Carmichael,

the professor of Civil War Studies from Gettysburg College,

on the fields where the future of America was forged.

Peter, the Battle of Gettysburg comes roughly at the midpoint

of the American Civil War, what was the war about?

The war was ultimately about slavery.

In 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected in the North,

his party, the Republican Party, was viewed in the South as a threat

against the Southern way of life, which is code words for slavery.

And so, at the beginning of the conflict, the majority of the slave-owning states

actually declare a separate nation, they leave the Union.

Yes, and that act of leaving the Union is called secession

and the secession movement, its epicentre, was in the Deep South.

In April 1861, the war began.

Despite the North's having superior forces, the Union's hopes for

a quick victory over the Southern Confederate States were dashed.

The conflict settled into a grinding stalemate.

How important was the role that the railroads played in the American Civil War?

Extraordinary. The very nature of warfare itself.

It gave a tremendous advantage to the side on the defence,

and that side was the Confederacy.

Because the political aim of the Confederacy is independence.

They don't need to conquer the North, they just simply need to outlast the North.

The more territory that those Northern armies gain,

the more extended, the more vulnerable that those armies were to Confederate raiders.

Those long railroad lines - which of course brought equipment,

they brought troops - they became more extended, and so that,

of course, left it vulnerable to Confederate cavalry to come in

and slash and attack - and that, actually, slowed down the Union.

In the spring of 1863, the Confederate general Robert E Lee

made successful advances through Virginia into Pennsylvania.

On Lee's advance north, he encountered the Union's army here at Gettysburg.

Despite warnings that the line was too strong, Lee ordered an attack.

RE Lee decided to strike the very centre of the Union line.

He did that by orchestrating a massive artillery bombardment -

a bombardment of more than 120 guns, a bombardment that lasted an hour-and-a-half.

That bombardment had modest success and knocked out some of the Union batteries

and then came the infantry.

Nearly 14,000 Virginia soldiers, North Carolina soldiers,

struck the Union line and they actually broke the Union position.

But anticipating just such an assault on their position,

Union troops had been conserving ammunition.

The infantry held fire until its opponents were only a few hundred yards away

and then unleashed 1,700 muskets and 11 cannon.

And how many Confederate casualties did that produce?

So, it's roughly 13,000 to 14,000 men - 50% casualties in about 45 minutes.

Though the war continued until 1865,

Gettysburg marked the furthest extent of the Confederate advance.

From that moment, the South was on the defensive.

The aftermath of the battle was one of the first to be photographed.

And in looking at those photographs, without question that Lincoln had to be influenced in some way

-in his thinking about the Gettysburg Address.

-Extraordinary.

Four months later, President Lincoln travelled to Gettysburg

to dedicate a cemetery for the Union dead.

Confederates remained in shallow graves on the battlefield

until repatriated during the 1870s.

Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.

A mere 272 words long, it's one of the most stirring

and visionary speeches that I know.

And it had such an impact because it elevated the cause of Union -

bringing the nation back together -

it connected it with the high ideas of human liberty.

Lincoln did it in such a way that it was open-ended.

He never mentioned slavery, he never mentioned emancipation,

but it was articulated in a way that any group of people

could connect to it and they could draw from that

just cause to continue fighting the war.

From this point forward everyone understood - North and South alike -

that this war, if it's going to come to a close, if the North's going to succeed,

it's going to come with Union preserved and slavery eliminated.

"All men are created equal" was the ideal that inspired the American Revolution,

and 87 years later, here at Gettysburg,

Abraham Lincoln claimed that the American Civil War was testing

whether a nation dedicated to that proposition could long endure.

It has endured, but the struggle for equality has continued, too.

That doesn't make me cynical. The United States were conceived

with the noblest of aims and have often failed to live up to them.

But without an ideal, a nation has no standard by which to judge its shortcomings

and without a torch of liberty, no way to light the path ahead.

'Next time, I ride a giant of the railroads...'

TRAIN HORN BLOWS

The drama of an American locomotive bears no comparison with anything in Europe.

'..discover the explosive origins of an American powerhouse...'

GENTLE EXPLOSION

Whoa! HE LAUGHS

What a magnificent noise.

'..encounter the untamed landscape that would have greeted the first settlers.'

What you've seen is a touch of wildness.

You know, the wildness this place used to have,

the wildness that this place still has.

I find out about life on the wrong side of the tracks...

I'd been to close to 200 funerals by the time I graduated high school.

..and sink my claws into a local delicacy.

Can you give me any idea what's in that sauce?

Absolutely not, that's a secret recipe!

THEY LAUGH