Ep.01 – US Railway Travelogue

Episode 1  gets Tim Davies’ US Railway Travelogue underway after the Introductory Episode at the end of 2017.  This first episode features the London to San Francisco leg of the trip by air.

Photos from BA Terminal 5. Credit: British Airways library.

The podcast begins with the Tim waiting for his taxi to take him to London Heathrow Terminal 5, before heading off on the eleven hour flight to San Francisco.

Inside Heathrow Terminal 5. Credit: Tim Davies.

Inside Heathrow Terminal 5. Credit: Tim Davies.

Inside Heathrow Terminal 5. Credit: Tim Davies.

Inside Heathrow Terminal 5. Credit: Tim Davies.

Inside Heathrow Terminal 5, looking out. Credit: Tim Davies.

Tim endeavours to capture the soundscape of navigating check-in, and picking up his pre-booked currency for the trip, before boarding.  His voice, both knowledgeable and inviting, serves to ensure the listener feel like they have a special boarding pass for the trip.

The view from inside Terminal 5: Credit: Tim Davies.

The view from inside Terminal 5: Credit: Tim Davies.

The seat for the eleven hour journey – BA’s World Traveller Plus seating: Credit: British Airways library.

Once on board, you can hear part of British Airways‘ In flight safety video – produced in association with Comic Relief.  You can find the full video which you can hear in the podcast here:-

Tim captures take-off, travelling on a British Airways A380 plane, and passing on some additional information about sights and sounds which may have passed you by – or you may not have had an opportunity to sample.

A BA A380 prepares for take-off. Credit: British Airways library.

A BA A380 flying high. Credit: British Airways library:

He records what it feels like above the clouds, looking down on the icebergs and mountains covered with snow, before finally landing in San Francisco on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon.

Mountains of Greenland. Credit: Tim Davies.

Mountains of Greenland. Credit: Tim Davies.

San Francisco on arrival. Credit: Tim Davies.

Tim gets his first whiff of a train – the BART system – the Bay Area Rapid Transport system in this episode.  In future episodes, Tim will travel on such iconic Amtrak trains as ‘The Coast Starlight‘, ‘The Empire Builder‘ and ‘The California Zephyr‘.

Outside San Francisco Terminal building. Credit: Tim Davies.

San Francisco Airport BART Station. Credit: Tim Davies.

In future weeks, Episode 2 will cover Tim’s adventures in San Francisco; Episodes 3 and 4 the first of Tim’s journeys on the famous Amtrak trains (this one, The Coast Starlight), and Episode 5, Tim’s stop in Portland, Oregon – before the Travelogue continues onwards across the USA in future episodes.  We trust you enjoy your journey!

Photos from throughout the trip during subsequent episodes, as well as additional images, will be added to the podcast’s own Pinterest board.

You can listen to the original Introductory Episode of US Railway Travelogue where Tim explained what he hoped to get out of the journey, and the reasons behind the podcast by clicking here.

Tim would like to give his thanks to the crew of BA 287 on 23rd September 2017 who made his journey so enjoyable.  He would also like to give his thanks to Amtrak and British Airways for all their assistance in making the production of this podcast possible.

Music credits:

Theme: “Steam Railway”, AK012, Composer: Kimber-McTiffen; Track Number 1, Royalty Free from “The Special Interest Video Selection“; (AKM Music);

British Airways theme: “Flower Duet” from Opera Lakme; Composer, Leo Delibes; Performed by Mosaica; (available via CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) from MusOpen.

Artwork credit for main logo:

Loco Steve (Attribution-ShareAlikefreesf 2.0 Generic, CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence – see here)