:00:00. > :00:16.I'm on a coast-to-coast trek across the south of the USA, exploring the
:00:17. > :00:25.places that have grown up along the Sunset Limited train line. My
:00:26. > :00:30.journey started in the unique port city of New Orleans and continued
:00:31. > :00:34.across from Louisiana to Texas, and one of America's most distinctive
:00:35. > :00:43.national parks. Welcome to the border! This week, as I continue my
:00:44. > :00:48.journey along the rail route, get off the beaten track, I find out how
:00:49. > :00:55.long we came to the end of the world -- how close we came. Three, two,
:00:56. > :00:59.one, release. You and I have just started something we can't stop. And
:01:00. > :01:06.discover a wonderland conjured from the imagination of a groundbreaking
:01:07. > :01:10.artist. I literally microwaved a microwave while it was Mark waving.
:01:11. > :01:15.I am the only one in human history who has pulled off this a rent --
:01:16. > :01:26.microwaving. This is an Americana, but not as we know it.
:01:27. > :01:32.In the middle of the West Texas desert, you can walk for miles and
:01:33. > :01:38.miles before you come across anything resembling a Homestead. Or
:01:39. > :01:47.civilisation. This is one of the most remote areas in the country.
:01:48. > :01:52.And then you come across this. I have to be honest, that is the last
:01:53. > :01:59.thing I imagined I would see in the middle of the desert. You can't
:02:00. > :02:05.actually buy anything here. It is an artwork. But that doesn't mean
:02:06. > :02:10.people to come from miles to see it. Like these two, who have given eight
:02:11. > :02:14.hours from Dallas. I figured is a really interesting social commentary
:02:15. > :02:27.on branding, and I think it is ironic to have it in the middle of
:02:28. > :02:31.the desert. And the fake Prada boutique is just a foretaste. We are
:02:32. > :02:41.on the outskirts of an unusual oasis of art in the once anonymous ranch
:02:42. > :02:46.town of Marfa, which began life as a row rootstock. And Marfa's
:02:47. > :02:50.transformation is largely down to the arrival in the 1970s of a
:02:51. > :02:55.leading artist from New York, the late Donald Judd -- row weight stop.
:02:56. > :02:59.With this space and freedom, he created one of the largest
:03:00. > :03:04.installations of contemporary art. This artist from New York City at
:03:05. > :03:08.the height of his career left New York, thought it was a harsh
:03:09. > :03:14.environment that did not support artists or they are, what he created
:03:15. > :03:17.here has inspired this whole other group of artists, writers,
:03:18. > :03:25.filmmakers, musicians to come and have a life you. -- here. Artists
:03:26. > :03:30.live and work at the museum. They have a studio space. Jenny was one
:03:31. > :03:39.of those budding creative pilgrims. So impressed by Judd's work, she
:03:40. > :03:44.moved to Marfa with a young family. Then there are these concrete
:03:45. > :03:50.blocks, John's first works here, which were met with amusement by
:03:51. > :03:55.many locals -- died. Some of them look like cattle pens, and although
:03:56. > :03:59.there was scepticism at first, the local people who have come and with
:04:00. > :04:07.that these pieces now have a sense of the loveliness towards them. --
:04:08. > :04:16.belovedness. Back in the town's main drag, I
:04:17. > :04:23.decide to get a local's point of view. This used to be a mechanic
:04:24. > :04:30.shop, and blacksmith shop, and now it is a big Art Gallery and studio.
:04:31. > :04:36.But as I quickly discover, this saloon bar owner is not your average
:04:37. > :04:45.Joe. This self-proclaimed cowboy out of the box is a bit of a southern
:04:46. > :04:50.dude. And he knows it. Do you want a beer? I would love a beer, thank
:04:51. > :04:56.you. Tommy, what is the story of this town? You have been here more
:04:57. > :05:04.than 30 years. -- tell me. How has it changed? Marfa was just a small
:05:05. > :05:09.town. It was kind of dying. There were more mom-and-pop shops back
:05:10. > :05:15.then. And the thing that changed this town was what? Art change the
:05:16. > :05:24.time. You can say it saved the time. Marfa never would have had New York
:05:25. > :05:30.or Asian food or things like that, it wouldn't have as nice hotels. --
:05:31. > :05:36.save the town. Initially, it was a culture clash, and the locals were
:05:37. > :05:41.not too keen on the Newbury. They butted heads, they didn't like it,
:05:42. > :05:44.they were prejudiced against one another, another have learnt to
:05:45. > :05:49.coexist and it is getting better and better and will continue to get
:05:50. > :05:53.better and better -- keen on the new order.
:05:54. > :06:05.And there seems to be a bit of a Marfa effect. This man is now a
:06:06. > :06:11.feature film actor and model. What kind of roles are you playing? All I
:06:12. > :06:17.can play is myself. I'm not an actor. I display myself really well.
:06:18. > :06:24.And he seems to be having a ball doing just that --I just play
:06:25. > :06:30.myself. Every weekend there is somebody from a different culture or
:06:31. > :06:34.continent, everywhere from South America, Asia, Australia, Africa,
:06:35. > :06:43.Europe will stop just everybody comes here. I get my culture fix
:06:44. > :06:46.without ever having to leave home. I think you can finish this game off
:06:47. > :06:59.in a second. Where did the BlackBerry? -- like Bob
:07:00. > :07:09.-- black go? You were very polite. I didn't even realise I put the black
:07:10. > :07:14.down. Time to leave the moat expenses of Texas behind and get to
:07:15. > :07:21.the west to the Arizona desert, following the train route. --
:07:22. > :07:24.promote expenses. Here we are,s Arizona, one of those place names I
:07:25. > :07:30.have heard so often and never thought I would visit -- Tucson. It
:07:31. > :07:34.owes its existence to the try line, which transformed the isolated
:07:35. > :07:42.frontier post it to a major urban centre. And they are proud of their
:07:43. > :07:56.rail history here. Is that a bell? Can I ring that? Go-ahead. Wow. That
:07:57. > :08:03.is a slice of history just in that noise. That sound is beautiful. But
:08:04. > :08:13.there is more to this area than meets the eye.
:08:14. > :08:24.This is a typical Arizona landscape, Masters at an mountain ranges. --
:08:25. > :08:28.fast desert. But what it is less famous for is what could change the
:08:29. > :08:37.course of history, and it is right and need my feet. An
:08:38. > :08:47.intercontinental ballistic missile complex, one of only two in the
:08:48. > :08:50.world open to the public. Now decommissioned, but for two decades,
:08:51. > :08:57.capable of delivering a nine megaton nuclear warhead to targets more than
:08:58. > :09:04.10,000 climate is away. -- kilometres. That is 650 times more
:09:05. > :09:10.powerful than the bomb dropped on here seem -- Hiroshima. When we get
:09:11. > :09:16.to the bottom, we will be about 35 feet underground, what is considered
:09:17. > :09:22.level two. Yvonne was a crew commander in the 1980s. If you take
:09:23. > :09:27.a seat there. I will sort of let you be in charge. She took me through a
:09:28. > :09:38.simulation of what would have happened if the president had
:09:39. > :09:41.ordered a strike. After a complex series of checks and verifications,
:09:42. > :09:50.it all comes down to two people turning a key. Three, two, one,
:09:51. > :09:56.turned to the right, for, three, two, one, release. You and I have
:09:57. > :10:07.just started something we can't stop. There is no big oops button
:10:08. > :10:12.down here. It is quite chilling already. As you were talking about
:10:13. > :10:16.this and as the sirens and alarms go off. You just saw and heard
:10:17. > :10:21.everything that the crew would have seen and heard if they had ever been
:10:22. > :10:37.ordered to launch their missile. It is really kind of silent. Three,
:10:38. > :10:40.two, one, give it a turn. Why do you let people in to witness the
:10:41. > :10:46.simulation? What is the purpose? This site is a National historic
:10:47. > :10:53.Landmark, a gnat designation is given only to historic sites that
:10:54. > :10:58.have so influenced the American psyche as to have had an impact --
:10:59. > :11:03.and that designation, on almost everyone in the United States. There
:11:04. > :11:08.is no way to bring that was back, there is no distract package. It is
:11:09. > :11:15.that feeling on your gut when you are going to the launch sequence. It
:11:16. > :11:26.is chilling. Cold War sites can drive the necessity for peace home
:11:27. > :11:32.almost better than anything else. -- distract package. Yvonne leads me to
:11:33. > :11:38.the complex to get a look at the missile itself will stop this is the
:11:39. > :11:42.nerve centre of the missile site. Right, so we will inside the launch
:11:43. > :11:48.dock. When we go in, what your head. OK. We will be stemming directly
:11:49. > :11:57.underneath the missile here -- standing. That's incredible. It is
:11:58. > :12:01.so, so high up. 103 feet. You can feel its power in a scary kind of
:12:02. > :12:11.way. And have you ever talked to a
:12:12. > :12:18.counterpart of yours who was doing the same thing on the Soviet Union
:12:19. > :12:22.side? Yes, I've actually had the opportunity to meet one former
:12:23. > :12:26.Soviet crew member, he came with his son to tour the museum. They brought
:12:27. > :12:34.him into my office, just a really nice guy. As he was shaking my hand
:12:35. > :12:40.he said, thanks for not launching! I couldn't think of anything to say
:12:41. > :12:44.but, thank you for not launching! It was just... We were both so grateful
:12:45. > :12:53.to have the opportunity to meet each other. And in peace. And you are two
:12:54. > :12:57.human beings who personally could have easily lead to... Either one of
:12:58. > :13:11.us. The destruction of the world. Either one of us.
:13:12. > :13:19.And on that apocalyptic note, I continue my exploration west where
:13:20. > :13:24.the nightmare scenario of Titan mutates into fantasy. Crossing the
:13:25. > :13:29.Arizona border into the Californian desert and where the Hollywood dream
:13:30. > :13:39.for a select few became a reality, palm springs, the home of classic
:13:40. > :13:45.Americana. Hello, Ken. Welcome to Palm Springs. Thank you so much.
:13:46. > :13:49.Sheltered from the elements by these enormous mountains, the town of Palm
:13:50. > :13:57.Springs became a desert playground for the rich and famous in the 40s,
:13:58. > :14:01.50s and sixties. You couldn't go anywhere in Hollywood without people
:14:02. > :14:05.photographing you and wanting your autograph... Ken was part of this
:14:06. > :14:11.exclusive world at zero and a luxury resort catering for Hollywood's
:14:12. > :14:15.millionaire celebrities. Everyone in the film industry would come here
:14:16. > :14:19.because they had privacy by and large, they built homes here, they
:14:20. > :14:24.bought homes here, and so that's where we got the movie colony and we
:14:25. > :14:33.had everybody from Bob Hope to Sinatra. Elizabeth Taylor, all those
:14:34. > :14:37.people, they were all super nice. You met Elizabeth Taylor? Oh, yeah,
:14:38. > :14:45.Elizabeth Taylor was a sweetheart. And Barbara Streisand. By the mid-
:14:46. > :14:52.60s palm springs had more pools per capita than anywhere else in the
:14:53. > :14:56.world. But over the years as more people were drawn to the glamour,
:14:57. > :15:01.Palm Springs lost its cachet and a new generation of dream makers took
:15:02. > :15:10.over. And none so original as Ken's son. You're going to see when you
:15:11. > :15:17.come to our car it will be pretty apparent. Pretty apparent, will it?
:15:18. > :15:21.Here it is. Wow. Look at that. That is astonishing!
:15:22. > :15:36.Welcome to the wacky world of Kenny Ingram Junior.
:15:37. > :15:44.An artist whose work is now your ring sightseers away from Frank
:15:45. > :15:50.Sinatra's old house around the corner to see this fantastic all
:15:51. > :15:53.creation instead. Luring. What to you is more interesting, this place
:15:54. > :16:03.or Frank Sinatra's house? This place. Kenny Ingram Junior is a real
:16:04. > :16:08.artist. Ken senior likens his son's work to Michelangelo and has become
:16:09. > :16:14.his proud patron. Do you know what these mean, do they mean anything to
:16:15. > :16:18.you? Everyone of them means that Kenny has created a unique sculpture
:16:19. > :16:24.out of material that would be in landfill. Yeah. He's used tons and
:16:25. > :16:31.tons of material that would be in a landfill, he is recycled and made it
:16:32. > :16:41.into great works of art. -- has recycled. Where is Kenny? He's out
:16:42. > :16:49.here. Kenny? ! Wears Kenny? He's behind you. -- where is. Here he is.
:16:50. > :16:53.That's the man. This is astonishing, your father has told us a little bit
:16:54. > :17:01.about what's going on here, but can you take me on a full tour? Yeah,
:17:02. > :17:06.absolutely. Fantastic. You've made everyone of these pieces. Yeah, each
:17:07. > :17:11.one I've made myself. Over how many years? I've been working on my art
:17:12. > :17:16.for at least the last four decades since I've been living and
:17:17. > :17:22.breathing. Really? Yeah, I was born an artist. On these four acres of
:17:23. > :17:31.land Kenny has used 1000 tons of recycled stuff to create 350 works
:17:32. > :17:42.of art. So far. Here's the hockey pod. What that made of?
:17:43. > :17:45.Refrigerators. Here's a Bo bear, made an air conditioner.
:17:46. > :17:50.Astonishing. What are the reindeer made of? Everything, basically
:17:51. > :17:56.everything is made of everything. Yeah. That is the what Barney? This
:17:57. > :18:03.is the Mongolian Easter Barney's Version bar thrown. This is one of
:18:04. > :18:18.the world's only two microwaved Michael Wright -- Mongolian Easter
:18:19. > :18:23.Bunny's mobile thrown. -- microwave. I'm the only person to have ever
:18:24. > :18:27.achieved this. Can I asked a silly question, why? Why not? It say why
:18:28. > :18:36.not world and a wide world. These are the kind of things I do with my
:18:37. > :18:40.art -- why world. This why not attitude runs throughout Kenny's
:18:41. > :18:46.world. It tells me he will make art out of any unwanted item. It's a
:18:47. > :18:51.mind-boggling spectacle. A mishmash of household items painted in
:18:52. > :18:55.bubblegum colours and a whole host of themes, some religious. Kenny
:18:56. > :19:03.converted to Islam while at college. This is the gorilla bot, look out
:19:04. > :19:08.behind the gorilla but. Has this thing grew and grew and grew, and
:19:09. > :19:12.it's very tall, you are overlooking your neighbours' houses and lawns,
:19:13. > :19:20.what do they think? They love it. This neighbour over here bought one
:19:21. > :19:25.of my microwave things for $59. He gratefully displays it in his living
:19:26. > :19:28.room and brags about it. They are all fans, everyone of your
:19:29. > :19:35.neighbours fans of your work? They love my work. Just about the entire
:19:36. > :19:38.town of Palm Springs knows about it. People come from Germany, Japan, the
:19:39. > :19:45.United Arab Emirates, France, India, they come here just to see this.
:19:46. > :19:49.Where do you think this fits in all of you fit into contemporary
:19:50. > :19:53.America? I don't know where it could fit in, I don't think it fits in
:19:54. > :19:57.anywhere really to speak of. How we got man on the moon and how we get
:19:58. > :20:02.men on Mars or people on Mars isn't going to happen how things fit in
:20:03. > :20:09.with other things, is going to happen by things never been done
:20:10. > :20:14.before is how it's going to happen. -- it's. At Christmas the whole
:20:15. > :20:18.place is lit up and Kenny has big plans for the future too. He wants
:20:19. > :20:24.to build a 300 acre theme park based on his designs. He reckons once
:20:25. > :20:28.investors and engineers are on board he could have it built in ten years.
:20:29. > :20:35.In the meantime we'll have to settle for a ride on this. I actually
:20:36. > :20:40.physically can't get in! Of course you can fit in there, you're not
:20:41. > :20:44.that big. I'm not that big at all. Do you think grown up is should be
:20:45. > :20:49.riding around in these too? Absolutely, there is no excuse not
:20:50. > :20:54.to. Kenny, there's only one problem. What's that? Were on this thing and
:20:55. > :20:56.there's no one to turn it off, does that mean we're on this for ever? In
:20:57. > :21:15.theory that could happen. Time to leave this garden of dreams
:21:16. > :21:17.behind and head westward to America's so-called city of dreams,
:21:18. > :21:27.Los Angeles. It's the final stop on the Sunset
:21:28. > :21:34.Limited train ride, which I followed here all the way from New Orleans.
:21:35. > :21:38.They call this one of the last great railway stations in the US and it
:21:39. > :21:43.marks one end of a line that created the hugely important artery carrying
:21:44. > :21:48.cargo and passenger traffic from coast-to-coast. And I tell you what,
:21:49. > :22:05.it's absolutely beautiful. Like a church!
:22:06. > :22:10.And this is one reason why so many people make the trip to the
:22:11. > :22:19.Californian coastline. It's beautiful weather and beaches. This
:22:20. > :22:25.is it! Finally, the Pacific Ocean. New Orleans seems an eternity away.
:22:26. > :22:32.So, with 2000 miles under my belt, having travelled coast to coast, I
:22:33. > :22:35.kind of realise it's difficult to talk about a single shared American
:22:36. > :22:38.dream when this country has become so diverse.
:22:39. > :22:46.Travelling off the well worn tourist trail, I've discovered such
:22:47. > :22:49.different communities, each with an Independent spirit, colourful
:22:50. > :22:52.history and an unique story to tell. All of which goes towards what it
:22:53. > :22:54.means to be a modern American.