from what we understand the engineer that day it was his first time operating the train and there was a section of track near trestle that where the tourists for being sharp he approached it to greater speed not knowing the route that well and the train derailed and there were several fatalities and that would result in the train not making it here on. the campaign. and station. was. the tragedy hasn't been forgotten not least because of the song written about it a short while later it is the record though ninety seven and i understand it was the first gold record ever in the united states back several years ago it was

a very well folk song was played in been recorded over the years and there's a famous railroad and so do you know this song i hear it every other day on the lower figure we have here in all authority. it was number one in the us chance in october nine hundred twenty four the record sold more than a million copies a woman in danville commemorates the design stuff. we've travelled two thirds of the way to new york during an excursion to the appalachian mountains we come across a forestry train that. if existed one hundred years ago for many decades trees

felled in the surrounding forests processed in the small town of cass west virginia the forestry train with its powerful steam engines transported the wood into the valley. the same locomotive was designed with all of this operating equipment on the outside of the engine so that two guys my size could carry any broken parts out of the woods and fix it wherever it failed most lumber operations didn't have a large shop like we have they had basically a locomotive and if it broke in the woods they had to fix it where it failed. to work no small romantic on the old photographs than it really was special engines had been developed to transport the tend to shea was one of them it stands out because of its unusual poa train of beveled is and universal joints.

shoveling coal is a job for a strong backs. but this is fun to they had to. go . and tire families cram themselves into the cars at the cast scenic railway road which has been travelling through the forests of west virginia for half a century to this day it's a popular attraction not surprising with such an end. oh

the to the so. joyful here we are here about forty five minutes i call that. several of the worst of both ways come back to the training and the back and forth so we're going to end our schedule on the other the. bold knob is one of the highest points in west virginia with an absolutely noria. with. my. mother sold the whole of the. country sing i do mean rajah's was a brakeman and it's still a calling to this day each carriage on this train has

a brake man the work is hot it's a steep descent. oh . we're back on the crescent and heading through a historic region. just over one hundred and fifty years ago it was the site of one of the worst tragedies in american history. many thanks to ed in the last light of day we can see. the battlefield of manassas the site of the first major battle of

the american civil war thousands of soldiers from the north and the defecting south were killed or wounded in the first battle of blue line or the battle of fast men as this the conflict which started in a comparatively harmless manna developed into a mess in a civil war that neither side could have anticipated all sides are very enthusiastic about their respective causes but all of them almost without exception are untrained west officers who are either all elected politicians are businessmen this is going to be a disaster for both sides. many states in the north supported the liberation of slaves the southern states wanted each state to have

the power to decide the slavery is you and whether to remain in the union in any eighteen sixty one six dates with drew and form the confederate states of america. and the presidential election of eight hundred sixty abraham lincoln one and his policy was no more slavery not to eliminate existing slavery but no more but the southern states understood if slavery could not expand. their society and their economy would die i believe that's why. there was an american civil war. the american civil war was the first military conflict to be documented each detail through photographs.

around and the technology at the time played a crucial role. to put it another way the move came by train. the american civil war was the first conflict all over the world where the railroads became a tactical. weapon for war had moved troops it move supplies it moved ammunition all over the country out support the war effort on both sides to be a no railroad was an important player because it ran through both northern territory and southern territory it was the object of many many attacks and so what we see during this four year period is the development of new technologies things like

armored box cars things like better locomotives things like tactical planning for moving munitions and troops and things like that for the first time in the world and we would see as a result of that experience in later wars. in this remote region on april the ninth eight hundred sixty five following the battle of apa matic station the commander of the southern forces general robin have landed. in the last week of the war here and for genya there's a particular railroad the south side railroad that connects petersburg virginia all the way to ethel maddox and beyond to lynchburg virginia at apple maddox generally had multiple trains full of food waiting for his army just three miles southwest of the courthouse village where we are now. however general george custer and the division of united states cavalry captured all the trains at apple matic station

here the next day generally surrendered in this village after next court house that ended the civil war in for genya and would practically and effectively in the entire american civil war over the next two months that is sixty five. hundred thousand year in the four years of the civil war at least seven hundred and fifty thousand people military and civilian lost their lives that's almost as many as in all other american was combined. the real winners of the civil war where the railroad company is the railway had experienced an incredible boom during the war is being an indispensable part of the transport supply and logistics network this machine known as a ten wheeler was built in eight hundred fifty three at first it ran in the

mountains of virginia then in the civil war after that it pulled freight and passenger trains for many is after the war there was a tremendous amount of growth in the railroads of the united states a lot of money was made by their ads during the war so they expanded their networks and we see the size of the american railroads almost double in less than ten years . our next stop is washington d.c. the american capital the site of some of the most important institutions that the united states the washington monument and all the escape made of wind model rises one hundred and seventy meters and can be seen from far and wide it was inaugurated in eighteen eighty four. c. . eckstein hundred pennsylvania avenue is the address of america's most famous

building the white house where the president lives and works. our stop in washington's union station will be longer than usual because the engine needs to be switched the stretch to new york is electric before arriving we were informed that we could leave the train but we needed to stay close they don't want to leave any passengers behind an electric locomotive type eight and seven replaces the two diesel engines. the crescent leaves the station right on time it now makes its way through the northeast corridor on an electrified stretch of seven hundred kilometers between washington and boston where trains travel at up to two hundred forty kilometers per

hour the landscape has changed many factories line the train tracks and every half hour there's another big city. baltimore maryland philadelphia pennsylvania trenton new jersey. finally the skyline of manhattan comes into view we've reached our destination new york city for the last four kilometers the crescent rolls through the hudson river tunnel built in one thousand ten after thirty one hours and forty five minutes our journey ends in underground penn station. the big apple is captivating its ex-in orating to be here at times square in the

city that never sleeps and run the right. play in the same movie again with. the way hoping to. get to. you new york greats fifty million visitors a year the city itself is hand to eight and the hoff million people thank you and the s.c. the s o n. nine eleven the attack on the world trade center in two thousand and one on the site of the twin towers a memorial commemorates the two thousand seven hundred and forty nine victims known colloquially as freedom tower the one world trade center is the city's tallest building and its newest landmark. the crowning end to

a journey is the sparkling skyline of new a . the sci u.s. . learn german with d w. any time any place. whether with jo jo and her friends. colleagues disgustedly going next door

mr spitzer's inspection join the cause of war with friends all over the world. online and interactive. german to go. learn german for free with d w just pick up. the freedom of expression. of value that always has to be defended and you. all over the world. are to afraid of freedom of art. a multimedia project about artists and their right to express their views freely. d w dot com part of freedom.

this is d.w. news live from berlin and emotional release in turkey the german human rights organizer page this story is freed on bail with a great ruling and say we are really grateful.

for everybody who supported us legally. diplomatically and with solidarity. and he and other german human rights activists have been held in turkey for terror related charges since july we'll get the very latest also coming up. kenyans return to the ballot boxes in a repeat election that has polarized the nation calls for a boycott and fears of violence could mean a low turnout we'll go to nairobi for more. and a final farewell for thailand's beloved late king puma pong tens of thousands of mourners attending the five day long ceremony in bangkok for the late model. and u.s. president trump says he'll be declaring a national state of emergency next week as small town america struggles with growing drug use and high overdose deaths d.w. makes a special visit to a midwestern state ravaged by the epidemic. and in the german cop

topsides by in munich an r.v. lives a went the distance and last night's top match up. with. hello i'm brian thomas a very warm welcome to the show while emotional scenes in turkey after a court ordered the release of german national papers and seven other human rights activists pending the outcome of their trial and was arrested in istanbul in july accused of having links to terrorist groups berlin dismissed the allegations and demanded his freedom germany's foreign ministers ignore gabriele called a decision to release start now during the press.