It's not every day that a person can watch an award-winning, national television show and personally know the program's anchor.

But that could change for midcoast Mainers on Nov. 11. The host of a new History Channel series hails from North Anson.

Train conductor Matt Bown was chosen out of dozens of applicants to host Extreme Trains, an eight-part series that premieres on History at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11.

"It's very surreal," Bown said. "As far as being a rail fan, I get to fulfill some fantasies most rail fans probably don't get to do. It was amazing."

Bown, 35, has been a train conductor for Pan Am Railways for 11 years. As a conductor, he is in charge of all aspects of the train -- the paperwork, hooking up cars, putting cars into businesses served -- except driving the train, which is done by the engineer.

He landed the History gig after answering an open casting call on the Internet in May 2007. He sent a photograph and a mini biography and waited.

"It was very simple," Bown said. "I sent a couple pictures of myself and just said my name is Matt, I have a dog, I run 30 miles a week, I have a daughter and a wife and I work on the railroad. I'm not a TV host. I have absolutely zero TV experience."

Though History received submissions from all over the country, Bown, a Skowhegan native, was selected for a test shoot in New Hampshire. Three months later, he was offered the job.

In each episode, Bown rides alongside each train's crew and helps tell the story of that episode's featured train.

He meets the workers who keep the trains going, from the engineers who run the train, to the track crews that shovel ice and snow off the tracks.

The show also celebrates the work of the men and women who work on the railroads, often doing tough gritty jobs in extreme conditions just to keep America moving -- something more crucial to America's prosperity than many people realize, Bown said.

Bown traveled through Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. during the series, which took about 10 weeks in all.

There were two to three week breaks between shoots -- a necessary break, as most days were 12-hour work days. One shot with the Barnum & Bailey Circus took 26 straight hours, as Bown witnessed the loading of the train, the actual train trip, the unloading of the train, and the walking of the elephants from the railroad to the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, D.C. There were two separate film crews capturing the trip -- one for the first 12 hours, another for the second -- but only one host, that being Bown.

The long hours -- and the time away from his wife, Amy, and daughter, Ashley -- were tough, Bown said.

"A lot of times I was away and my daughter was having basketball games, or they needed my help shoveling and taking care of the house," Bown said. "But the History channel let my wife come along on a couple of shoots."

Some of the series' highlights include a steam train -- one of the last of its kind in the U.S. -- and the Amtrak Acela, the fastest train in America with speeds reaching 150 mph.

In the series premiere, Bown joins a coal train hauling cargo from mine to power plant through the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania. Bown pitches in with the crew members as they load the train and learn how the Nazis tried to blow the tracks during World War II.

Ironically, the star of the show doesn't know if he'll be able to witness his debut Nov. 11.

"I have to work that day," Bown said with a laugh. "I'm hoping to get home in time to watch it. My daughter has to go to bed, so she won't be able to watch it."

For more information about the series, go to www.history.com/extreme-trains.