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Chicago, The Windy City

Michael Portillo is blown away by the skyscrapers in Illinois's Windy City, where he discovers how modern Chicago's skyline replaced a largely wooden city.

Michael Portillo is blown away by the skyscrapers in Illinois's Windy City, where he discovers how modern Chicago's skyline replaced a largely wooden city, destroyed in a great fire shortly before his Appleton's Guide was published. Training with the city's firefighters, Michael learns today's fire department respond to half a million emergency calls a year.

Michael steps up to the plate with the Joliet Slammers, stars of the US national game of baseball, then sings for his supper at a quintessentially American restaurant bearing his name! Downtown at the Moody Church, Michael tracks down a pair of evangelists who toured Britain and the United States by rail at the time of his Guide.

29 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Michael Portillo
Executive Producer John Comerford
Series Producer Alison Kreps
Production Company Boundless Productions

Broadcast

Steam Railways: Watch programmes from the archive collection

Shows from the 大象传媒 archives celebrating the beauty of locomotives.