It's 1978, and Sam Spearman-wealthy, elderly, irascible-is a man on a mission. The

It's 1978, and Sam Spearman-wealthy, elderly, irascible-is a man on a mission. The

mighty Central Pacific Railroad proposes to abandon tracks that serve his Kansas grain

elevators. Caught in the middle is Chet Whitfield, who runs CP's Kansas Division. When

Sam forces Central Pacific to sell him the Kansa City-to-Denver route, Chet chooses sides

and becomes president of the new railroad, nicknamed the Seldom Willing.

Together the two men, aided by a young woman believed by all to be Sam's rob-the-cradle

girlfriend, set out to make a success of their new railroad. They must overcome unhappy

former employees, criminals and even Central Pacific itself. You'll discover that railroading

then, whether viewed from locomotive cabs or corporate boardrooms, was never dull.