Danny Highmountain moves huge loads across the Centennial Railway, through some of the most formidable geography anywhere. He is one of the best at his craft. However, his personal life is a mess. Struggles with relationships, compounded by drinking and emotional excess, Danny must find redemption somewhere, and in a world where it is very difficult to find. Danny takes the reader along to observe how these mysterious trains that sweep through the American landscape operate, and even offer the chance to take the controls, as taught by The Engineer.