0:00:02 > 0:00:07I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of North America with
0:00:07 > 0:00:09my reliable Appletons' guide.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Published in the late 19th century,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Appletons' General Guide to North America
0:00:17 > 0:00:20will direct me to all that's novel,
0:00:20 > 0:00:21beautiful,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23memorable
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and striking in the United States.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27INDISTINCT SHOUTING
0:00:28 > 0:00:30As I journey across this vast continent,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34I'll discover how pioneers and cowboys conquered the West...
0:00:34 > 0:00:35GUNSHOTS
0:00:35 > 0:00:39..and how the railroads tied this nation together,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42helping to create the global superstate of today.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09My rail adventure continues to the West,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13and will bring me to some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17I'll discover how a poet described the grandeur to be found
0:01:17 > 0:01:19between sea and shining sea,
0:01:19 > 0:01:24and how the iron horse catered for tourists with nerves of steel.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31The Rocky Mountains were the last barrier in the railroads' race to
0:01:31 > 0:01:32win the West.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36The stakes were high and railroad tycoons would fight for the chance
0:01:36 > 0:01:40to open up this wilderness to settlement and to trade.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50My railroad journey began in St Louis, the gateway to the West,
0:01:50 > 0:01:55and crossed the Kansas plains to the frontier cow town, Dodge City.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59I continue now west to Colorado Springs in the Rockies
0:01:59 > 0:02:02and then on to Albuquerque in New Mexico
0:02:02 > 0:02:06before finishing at Arizona's most scenic landmark.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13On this leg, I visit Colorado's Canon City,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17and explore the Rockies by heritage railroad.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22It's then north for the 19th-century spa town of Colorado Springs,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26and an ascent with a patriotic heart of the great Pikes Peak.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35This time, I ride the historic railroad that sparked a war...
0:02:35 > 0:02:39They actually built forts along the canyon walls and they aimed the guns
0:02:39 > 0:02:41each other. Shots were fired back and forth.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46# America, America... #
0:02:46 > 0:02:50..explore the origins of an iconic national hymn...
0:02:50 > 0:02:54She took an excursion to the top of Pikes Peak and was inspired by
0:02:54 > 0:02:56the vistas and penned America The Beautiful.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59..and ascend to over 14,000 feet.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Oh, my word.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06We are going to the very edge.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08That's unbelievable.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Colorado's southern Rocky Mountain region
0:03:18 > 0:03:22was a winter refuge for Indian tribes such as the Ute, Arapaho
0:03:22 > 0:03:23and Cheyenne.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27The United States gained the territory in 1845
0:03:27 > 0:03:28when it annexed Texas.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33By 1848, America's western territories
0:03:33 > 0:03:36stretched beyond this natural frontier to the Pacific
0:03:36 > 0:03:39and lay open for conquest by the railroad.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Expansion west would fuel this region's commerce
0:03:43 > 0:03:45and draw visitors in the tens of thousands.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50This pretty place is Canon City,
0:03:50 > 0:03:51which Appleton says is
0:03:51 > 0:03:55"a flourishing mining town with coal deposits,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57"oil wells and mineral springs.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59"The attraction for the tourists
0:03:59 > 0:04:02"lies in its proximity to superb scenery,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04"and Main Street points straight at it."
0:04:09 > 0:04:13My late 19th-century guidebook is drawing me about two miles west to
0:04:13 > 0:04:16a railway that enters the gorge of the Arkansas River
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and cuts through steep granite walls for eight miles.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25This scenic highlight through the Rockies was made possible by
0:04:25 > 0:04:30the construction of an historic narrow-gauge railroad in 1880.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34- Hello.- How are you doing?
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Very well, thank you. Looking forward to this.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I bet you are. OK, you're going to be in this car right here.
0:04:39 > 0:04:40- Thank you.- Not a problem.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42- Enjoy your trip, sir. - Thank you very much.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47- RADIO:- 'Got a tour on board. Let's take 'em west, over.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49INDISTINCT REPLY
0:04:53 > 0:04:55HOOTER BLOWS
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Every year, 100,000 visitors take this,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19one of Colorado's most scenic two-hour trips.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Today I'm fortunate to be riding up front
0:05:22 > 0:05:26with the locomotive engineer and some fellow enthusiasts.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27Hello.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30- I'm Michael.- Ken Craig, nice to meet you.- Hello, Ken. - Steve, nice to meet you.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Hello, Steve. Very good to see you.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34It's a great privilege to ride in the cab.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37- It is.- I know how I got here, how did you get here?
0:05:37 > 0:05:42Well, we're on a nine-day tour of historic railroads around Colorado
0:05:42 > 0:05:45and paid the extra admission to come up here and get a first-class ride.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47It's a wonderful view, isn't it?
0:05:47 > 0:05:50This is one of the most spectacular routes in the western part of the country.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51Just a beautiful thing to see.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54You sound like a bit of an aficionado of railroads?
0:05:54 > 0:05:58So, I volunteer on the weekends at a railroad museum and actually
0:05:58 > 0:05:59rebuild steam locomotives for fun.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Wow, you really are, may I say, a fanatic.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04- That's fantastic. - Well, to a degree, yes.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08- I'm not going to distract you any longer.- Thank you, Michael.- Good to see you. Steve.- Nice to meet you.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16The Royal Gorge Railroad tracks the Arkansas River,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20which for three million years has eroded the granite of Fremont Peak,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23making the gorge over 1,000ft deep.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29I'm hoping to learn more from museum curator Lea Davis Withero.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30Lea, hello.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32- Hello.- I'm Michael.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37- Nice to meet you.- This is one of the most beautiful railways I've ridden on, it's absolutely superb.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39What's the history of this, how did it start?
0:06:39 > 0:06:44Well, this railroad began as part of William Jackson Palmer's vision
0:06:44 > 0:06:48to connect the front range of Colorado to the rich mines of the Rocky Mountains.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49After the Civil War,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52the Americans turned their eyes to the West
0:06:52 > 0:06:56and there is a mania to connect the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts.
0:06:56 > 0:07:02Palmer comes up with a unique vision to connect them with a north-south line running south from Denver
0:07:02 > 0:07:05all the way through Santa Fe to El Paso, Texas,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and eventually to connect to the rich trade of Mexico.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Clearly a very innovative man.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Who was this Palmer?
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Palmer grew up in Philadelphia during the Industrial Revolution and
0:07:15 > 0:07:17he fell in love with railroads.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18He travelled to Britain,
0:07:18 > 0:07:23he enjoyed travelling on your railway system and learning all about coal technology
0:07:23 > 0:07:27and how it could increase efficiency in American railroads
0:07:27 > 0:07:29and he brought those ideas back to America.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35In 1859, Palmer suggested the Pennsylvania railway should burn coal instead
0:07:35 > 0:07:37of wood in its locomotives,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41and thereby halve the company's fuel costs.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44He also introduced three-foot narrow-gauge railways
0:07:44 > 0:07:48to North America on his Denver And Rio Grande line.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53But in 1877, Palmer had a fight on his hands.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Rich silver camps had been discovered in Leadville,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58around 80 miles north-west.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01And there was a race to reach it by rail.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05He faced the most competition from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07a more powerful, more well-financed,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10a bigger railroad, who actually got here first.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12So they both headed into the canyon,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15laying stakes and surveying right alongside each other but,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18as you can see, there's only room for one railroad.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23Over time, they armed themselves and they actually built forts along
0:08:23 > 0:08:25the canyon walls and they aimed guns at each other,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27shots were fired back and forth.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30They were known to go up to the top of the canyon walls
0:08:30 > 0:08:32and throw rocks down at their competitors.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37It might injure someone and definitely would disrupt the building of the railroad.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40The courts eventually had to step in and the Supreme Court
0:08:40 > 0:08:42actually gave the Rio Grande the right of way.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Despite that ruling in Palmer's favour, battle continued.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51The Santa Fe sabotaged commerce for the Rio Grande,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53leading to more Wild West thuggery.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Trains were commandeered, depots were put under siege
0:08:57 > 0:08:59and bullets flew.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Finally, the railroad war was settled by treaty in 1880,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06and the line extended to Leadville.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Lea, I have to say, for anybody that's not here at the moment,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14it's difficult to describe the grandeur of this.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18The rock is just towering over us, it rises completely sheer.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21It is beautifully lit today.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23It just is awe-inspiring.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25The word awesome is appropriate today, isn't it?
0:09:25 > 0:09:28- Spectacular.- And the only thing better than a beautiful gorge is one
0:09:28 > 0:09:30- with a railroad through it. - Absolutely.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45My Appletons' was enthusiastic about this railroad and tells me that,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48"through the Royal Gorge the track runs for 200ft
0:09:48 > 0:09:52"along an iron bridge suspended over the river
0:09:52 > 0:09:56"by steel girders mortised into the rock on either side."
0:09:56 > 0:09:58An amazing piece of construction.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Absolutely. It's more remarkable that we're still using
0:10:01 > 0:10:04the same bridge 146 years later.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06This is beautiful. So this is actually
0:10:06 > 0:10:09fixed, bolted onto the rock.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13- It's remarkable.- It's one of the great thrills of travelling on a railroad.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18But, you know, it takes ingenuity to build rail roads in the West,
0:10:18 > 0:10:19and these men had vision.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Palmer's Denver And Rio Grande Railroad continued its conquest of
0:10:25 > 0:10:27the Rockies and in 1883 connected
0:10:27 > 0:10:30with other lines to span the continent.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Peaking at around 11,000 feet,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36it was for a short time America's highest mainline rail service.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44Sadly, Palmer's historic line was discontinued for passengers in 1967,
0:10:44 > 0:10:45leaving me high and dry.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50I need to get from Canon City to Colorado Springs,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52and unfortunately there is no train.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54But, luckily for me,
0:10:54 > 0:10:59there is a 1957 Ford two-door coupe going in my direction.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21On the eastern flank of the Rockies lies Colorado Springs,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24another creation of William Jackson Palmer.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35A good review in Appletons' for Colorado Springs.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39"A flourishing little city 6,000ft above the sea
0:11:39 > 0:11:41"with a fine view of the mountains.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46"It contains many fine residences and a pretty opera house.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49"In summer the days are warm without being uncomfortable,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51"and the night is always cool."
0:11:52 > 0:11:54The West doesn't sound very wild here.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Indeed, it's almost British in its gentility.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05I've heard that the British influences stem from Palmer's co-founder,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08a London physician, Doctor William Bell,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11whose friends invested in this New World enterprise.
0:12:14 > 0:12:15On the banks of Fountain Creek,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18I'm visiting Bell's Victorian stately home,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Breyer Hurst Manor, which became the social centre of its day.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Matt Maybury is museum director.
0:12:33 > 0:12:39- So I believe this solid and rather opulent house was built by William Bell.- That's correct.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Bell was a physician from Britain,
0:12:41 > 0:12:46came to the United States and formed a partnership with General William Jackson Palmer.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Together they created the Denver And Rio Grande Railroad
0:12:48 > 0:12:53and they created the cities of Colorado Springs and neighbouring Manitou Springs.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00In 1868, Bell and Palmer were surveying the area for a railroad
0:13:00 > 0:13:03and fell for the scenery and the refreshing Manitou Springs.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Palmer predicted a great resort at the base of Pikes Peak,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12and a year later purchased 9,000 acres on which to build.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18The Victorian spa was founded in 1871 and three months later
0:13:18 > 0:13:21the Denver And Rio Grande Railroad reached town.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25There was an interest in what the railroads could do to open up
0:13:25 > 0:13:28business opportunities in the West, to make community building possible,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31and to enrich yourself.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Palmer expressed the vision as he wanted Colorado Springs to be
0:13:35 > 0:13:37the best place in the West to build a home.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Yes, because I've come through places like Dodge City and I've been
0:13:40 > 0:13:42thinking about gunslingers,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45and here I find in my guidebook that there was an opera house here.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48So this is a very different sort of West.
0:13:48 > 0:13:49It is. And that was part of the vision,
0:13:49 > 0:13:54that this would not be your typical western town with gunfighters and saloons.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58In fact, alcohol was forbidden in Colorado Springs,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01you could not sell it and you could not open a saloon.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Palmer built opulent hotels,
0:14:05 > 0:14:10developed the springs and marketed the resort's health benefits
0:14:10 > 0:14:12and rail link.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Within a decade of its founding, Colorado Springs had become a famed retreat,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18welcoming 25,000 visitors each summer.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21The streets were broad,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24which was attractive to people who might come from the east,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27and it was a grid pattern, so it was very orderly.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31- Did it attract Europeans as well as people from the east of the United States?- It did.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Many Europeans came to Colorado Springs.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37In fact, Colorado Springs had the nickname Little London because there
0:14:37 > 0:14:40were so many Brits who came here.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Two of our most famous were Oscar Wilde,
0:14:43 > 0:14:44who performed in our opera house,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47and Charles Kingsley, the famous author.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Bell's British investors visited to see the fruits of their speculation,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59as did British backers of Palmer's railroad.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06By the late 1880s, Little London had 2,000 English residents.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10Anglophilia help this elite enclave to flourish
0:15:10 > 0:15:12with schools and gentlemen's clubs.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18I hear that, incongruous as it seems, they had a cricket club,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20and that's exactly where I'm heading.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24'It may not be Lord's, but I'm up for a game.'
0:15:56 > 0:16:01East of downtown, at Memorial Park, the Colorado Springs Cricket Club,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04or Titans, practise twice weekly in the season
0:16:04 > 0:16:08and maintain a respectable rank in the Colorado league.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18- Howzat!- Howzat!
0:16:22 > 0:16:24- Well played.- Thank you, guys.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27I'm afraid I may have let the side down.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29You may have noticed, I'm not much of a cricketer,
0:16:29 > 0:16:33but I am impressed that you have had a cricket club here in Colorado Springs
0:16:33 > 0:16:35since the late 19th century.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37That's fantastic. And obviously you keep it going today.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41- Yes, we do.- There's about 12 clubs here in Colorado.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44And there's a couple that come down from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46So, yeah, we've got a lot of cricket going on here.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49So that's a very different impression than people would have
0:16:49 > 0:16:53back in Europe, they would think cricket was extinct, at least in the far west.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56So you are very dedicated to it, aren't you?
0:16:56 > 0:17:03We are. This is the one sport that I love and this is the one physical
0:17:03 > 0:17:05activity that I think I'm really good at.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06Is he quite a useful player?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Oh, yeah, he's one of the best players we have in the league right now.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11- Really?- A few hundreds to his name.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13And what about you?
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Me, well, I'm a bits and pieces player.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19From what nationalities is your team drawn?
0:17:19 > 0:17:23I'd say about 90% of our players are from India.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27We do have anywhere the British have touched,
0:17:27 > 0:17:32you know, we have the West Indians, Australians, South Africans,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Sri Lankans, Pakistanis.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Have you ever converted an American to cricket?
0:17:37 > 0:17:40We've converted one at least.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45He's not playing right now because he's a flight instructor,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48so when he's free he comes down and he gets to play.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52So I'm going to give you what is known as the cricket test.
0:17:52 > 0:17:53During your intervals,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56do you eat cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off?
0:17:56 > 0:17:59We don't, but we'd love to.
0:17:59 > 0:18:00What we do here is pizza.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02- Pizza?- Yeah.
0:18:02 > 0:18:03Yeah, this is America, isn't it?
0:18:23 > 0:18:28What a pleasure to wake up to Colorado Springs' warm climate
0:18:28 > 0:18:32and clean air, and to glimpse from town the most eastern peak in the Rockies.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39Named after the explorer Zebulon Pike, who discovered it in 1806,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43it inspired an American patriotic hymn still popular today.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48# ..for spacious skies
0:18:48 > 0:18:52# For amber waves of grain
0:18:52 > 0:18:58# For purple mountain majesties
0:18:58 > 0:19:03# Above the fruited plain
0:19:03 > 0:19:08# America, America
0:19:08 > 0:19:13# God shed his grace on thee
0:19:13 > 0:19:19# And crown thy good with brotherhood
0:19:19 > 0:19:25# From sea to shining sea. #
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Thank you very much, choir and Gary for that.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- Thank you, sir. - Beautiful, beautiful words.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32- Who wrote them?- Katherine Lee Bates.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35And her statue is right behind us.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37And what is her connection with Colorado Springs?
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Well, she was visiting Colorado College and took an excursion to
0:19:41 > 0:19:46the top of Pikes Peak and was inspired by the vistas and penned America The Beautiful.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Katherine Lee Bates was professor of English literature at
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57In 1893, she travelled 2,000 miles across America for a summer job.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Her journey up and view of Pikes Peak stirred her to write about
0:20:01 > 0:20:05the nation's greatness from sea to shining sea,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and to appeal to its people's brotherhood.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12I mean, obviously it's a terrific celebration of the American landscape.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Does it mean more than that to you?
0:20:14 > 0:20:18It does to me, personally, and I think to a lot of Americans.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21It speaks of the bounty of America,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24how fortunate we are to live on this continent.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27But I know she was thinking about the goodness of America and what
0:20:27 > 0:20:29the people and the nation stand for.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Because the nation exists only because of the people.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Yeah, it appears mainly to be about geography, amber fields of wheat,
0:20:35 > 0:20:36purple mountains majesty.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39- Yes.- But "crown thy good with brotherhood."
0:20:39 > 0:20:41What do you think she had in mind?
0:20:41 > 0:20:47Well, I think she was just reminding us that "crown thy good" -
0:20:47 > 0:20:49we presume we have good.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52But we have good because we CHOOSE to be good.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57And we are brothers in that goodness, and that is the essence of America.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Do you think America has crowned its good with brotherhood?
0:21:01 > 0:21:04That is a very difficult question at these times.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07I will say that I believe in my heart
0:21:07 > 0:21:12that there is still a spirit of goodness and brotherhood in this country.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15I think we get very confused with rhetoric,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19we get very confused with doctrinal differences, but, in the end,
0:21:19 > 0:21:21we want to be good.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23And we do believe that we are all brothers and sisters.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29# Oh beautiful for patriots' dreams
0:21:29 > 0:21:35# That sees beyond the years... #
0:21:35 > 0:21:37With Bates's words in my heart,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40I make my way to the foot of the famous peak.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45# ..undimmed by human tears... #
0:21:52 > 0:21:55This is Manitou Springs, according to Appletons',
0:21:55 > 0:22:02"situated at the base of Pikes Peak and the centre of excursions in the district.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07"The summit of Pikes Peak is reached by a cog wheel railway.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11"Incredibly, the highest rack railway in the world.
0:22:11 > 0:22:18"The view, from 14,000 feet, embraces many thousand square miles."
0:22:18 > 0:22:23I hope that nothing will cloud my vista of America the beautiful.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30The Pikes Peak Cog Railway
0:22:30 > 0:22:33is one of the busiest trains I've travelled on so far.
0:22:33 > 0:22:40In operation since 1891, it climbs 14,115ft above sea level
0:22:40 > 0:22:42to the most visited mountain in North America.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46This is a rather special moment for me.
0:22:46 > 0:22:52I've been up the Gornergrat and the Jungfraujoch railways in Switzerland,
0:22:52 > 0:22:54which are extraordinarily impressive,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58but I come here to the United States and this one is going take me even higher.
0:23:00 > 0:23:01HORN BLOWS
0:23:04 > 0:23:06'Good afternoon, everybody,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10'and welcome aboard the Manitou And Pikes Peak Cog Railway.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13'I'd like to start today with introductions of the crew aboard.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15'At the front of our train is engineer Dick.
0:23:15 > 0:23:16'Everybody say, "Hi, Dick."
0:23:16 > 0:23:18- PASSENGERS:- Hi, Dick.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20'He's got a big job today, driving this train, 8.9 miles,
0:23:20 > 0:23:24'all the way to the summit of this mountain, as he's done so many times before.'
0:23:30 > 0:23:35Pikes Peak was a landmark for pioneers and explorers heading west
0:23:35 > 0:23:38to seek their fortune in the Colorado gold rush.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Before the railway it was an arduous two-day ascent,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47and tourists would have travelled by horse-drawn carriage and mule
0:23:47 > 0:23:49to the summit.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55You see why you have to use a cog railway,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59because we're now moving up at incredible gradients,
0:23:59 > 0:24:00up to one in four,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04which means that for every four feet we go forward we're rising one foot
0:24:04 > 0:24:07in elevation. A cog underneath the train
0:24:07 > 0:24:10is engaging with the teeth in the track
0:24:10 > 0:24:16and so we're making steady but grinding progress up the mountain.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31The magnificent views which struck Katherine Bates from her carriage
0:24:31 > 0:24:36first opened up at Glen Cove, at around 11,500 feet.
0:24:38 > 0:24:39Oh!
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Even though I was prepared for this by the poem,
0:24:49 > 0:24:54by the song America The Beautiful, it comes as a surprise to see such
0:24:54 > 0:25:00an extraordinary extent of plain, stretching to the far horizon.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02I'm looking back here towards the state of Kansas,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06looking back over much of the journey that I've been making.
0:25:09 > 0:25:10- Hello, Steve.- Hello.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14It's a most impressive train ride, I must say.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17One of the greats, I think.
0:25:17 > 0:25:18Built in 1891, that's very early?
0:25:18 > 0:25:22- Whose idea was it? - Well, it was Zalman Simmons.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25He was an inventor and entrepreneur from Wisconsin.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28He'd come up here to check on one of his other inventions,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30part of a telegraph system,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33and when he got to the summit and he realised the view was so spectacular
0:25:33 > 0:25:35that a lot of people would like to see that.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36That's what gave him the good idea to do it.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40It took him three years, he did it over the course of 18 months, actually,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43throughout that three years. They didn't work during the wintertime.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46We still use the same trackbed, everything is still the same as it was.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Now, to have a cog railway that goes even higher
0:25:49 > 0:25:51than any Swiss cog railway,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53that really is quite an achievement.
0:25:53 > 0:25:54It really is.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09And the railway saves its most extraordinary moment for last.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14As we come towards the summit, we have this 3,000ft drop over to
0:26:14 > 0:26:16my right, and the train just looks as if it's going to
0:26:16 > 0:26:18peek off the top of the mountain.
0:26:22 > 0:26:28Oh, my word. We are going to the very edge.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30That's unbelievable.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Appletons' visitors would have been awestruck.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48As are the hundreds of thousands who visit annually today.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52The view across five states, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma,
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Wyoming and New Mexico, is breathtaking.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20By the time that Katherine Lee Bates, inspired by these views,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24wrote about the grandeur and bounty of these lands
0:27:24 > 0:27:27in her poem America The Beautiful,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29the West had been civilised.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33But the United States had fought a Civil War over slavery,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and remained bitterly divided.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39It was, perhaps, as a socialist and a feminist,
0:27:39 > 0:27:44that she wrote yearningly of her country, "God mend thine every flaw,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48"and crown thy good with brotherhood."
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Many Americans today would echo her wishes.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00Next time, I discover how the elements add to opera's drama...
0:28:00 > 0:28:03It would be a shame to enclose the theatre
0:28:03 > 0:28:07when we are surrounded by such incredible natural beauty.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10..uncover Santa Fe's historic past...
0:28:10 > 0:28:15It's the longest continuously occupied public building in the whole of the United States.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19..and take up a special invitation to an ancient Native American site.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22How long has there been a settlement up here?
0:28:22 > 0:28:24We've been here since the beginning of time.