Great American Railroad Journeys

BBC Four

12:30 AM to 1:30 AM

Wednesday 18 September

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Michael Portillo stops at Mattoon, Illinois, where he gets a taste of the early life that shaped President Abraham Lincoln, though struggles to split one rail compared with Lincoln's estimated 700 a day. The political pundit then heads to Kentucky, where a bloody conflict proved decisive in victory for Lincoln's Union. Aboard a paddle steamer on the lower Mississippi, Michael hears about the life of former river boat captain Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, and in Memphis, Tennessee, uncovers the story of a devastating epidemic. In the home of the Blues, Michael joins some Elvis fans at Graceland