Otto Klein is a young man living in Singen, Germany at the start of World War II. His life-long ambition is to be a train engineer. After passing his examinations for the Railroad Institute, Otto is accepted into the school. His father, the chief of the Singen fire department, believes that Otto will follow in his footsteps and become a fireman. Otto chooses instead to follow his dream of becoming an engineer and in the process, ignites the anger of his father. Just before leaving Singen he meets Drina, a gypsy whose prophecy of marriage and children shakes him to his very core. After leaving Singen, Otto embarks on a career of improbable travels and dangerous missions that carry him closer and closer to the fulfillment of Drina's prophecy. Engine 81 is a story of family bonds ripped apart by pride and anger and the redemption of those bonds in the face of near certain death.