Inter-Rail anno 1879

INHALT

Michael Portillo reaches the boundary between the northern and southern states known as the Mason-Dixon line, where he discovers the origins of what became for black Americans the border between slavery and freedom. On the Wilmington and Western Railroad, the ex-politician meets Phoebe Snow, a character created by the railroads at the turn of the 20th century to reassure passengers that clean-burning coal wouldn't make their clothes dirty. Michael also uncovers the history of gunpowder production in Delaware, begun by a Frenchman, whose chateau still stands today.