Great Railway Journeys

Michael Palin's first televised travel adventure was screened as part of the BBC series Great Railway Journeys. 'Confessions of a Train Spotter' (1980) saw him travel the length of Britain by train. Setting off from Euston he includes diversions to lines beyond the inter-city network; a trip to the Flying Scotsman; visits to York's railway museum and Edinburgh at Festival time. He crosses the breathtaking Forth Railway Bridge, and after travelling over 785 miles reaches the Kyle of Lochalsh.Palin's second Great Railway Journey (1994) takes him from the ancient walled city of Londonderry to the most western tip of Ireland. He travels his 'family line' as he attempts to trace his great grandmother who left Ireland for the USA over 150 years ago. His trip through a still war-torn Northern Ireland takes him on to Belfast before heading south to Dublin, the capital of the Irish Republic, and on to Wexford, Waterford, the little village of Buttevant and finally Kerry's Dingle Bay, the most western point of Ireland.