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EP1. ICE TRAIN TO NOWHERE

Chris heads to the Arctic to explore a railway which probably should never have been built…the Alaska Railroad.

Constructed when the USA’s largest state was barely populated, Chris wants to find out how and why it has become such a success.

But travelling at the tail end of winter with few trains, completing his journey to the end of the line in Alaska’s frozen interior is not going to be easy.

This episode has been made possible with the support of the following.

EP2. NIGHT TRAIN TO PATAGONIA

This week, Chris travels by train across a thousand-mile stretch of Argentina to the heart of Patagonia.

In the heyday of its “Belle Époque” this country boasted one of the largest and finest railways in the world, largely funded and built by the British.

As he heads further and further South in his quest to ride the iconic Old Patagonian Express, Chris finds out just how far this once great railway network has fallen.

This episode has been made possible with the support of the following.

EP3. THE DIAMOND RAILWAY

Chris travels 1500 miles from Cape Town in South Africa across Botswana to the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, following the route of a mind-bogglingly ambitious railway pioneered by controversial 19th century British Colonialist, Cecil Rhodes.

Rhodes made a fortune from diamonds and used it to fund his railway and extend British rule across Africa, laying the foundations for apartheid in the process.

Chris wants to discover if this railway built to further the interests of a white minority is still relevant to the people of these countries today.

This episode has been made possible with the support of the following.

EP4. TRANS-CAUCASUS EXPRESS

Chris travels the length of the historic Trans-Caucasus Railway from the flaming towers of Baku on the shores of the Caspian to the port of Batumi on the Black Sea.

He explores this railway built in the days of the Russian Empire in a region that for decades was part of the Soviet Union.

He wants find out how the former republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia and this great railway that they now share are faring today.

This episode has been made possible with the support of the following.

EP5. WAR, ORE & SANTA CLAUS

Chris travels 1800 miles across Scandinavia and Finland in the middle of winter, braving deep snow, sub-zero temperatures and hardly any light.

He’s on a mission to find out how war, iron ore and a certain Lapland living red suited gentlemen inspired the Scandinavians to build an extreme railway network that operates deep into the Arctic Circle 365 days a year.

This episode has been made possible with the support of the following.