"Grumpy" Anderson is an old railroad engineer that is obsessed with keeping his train on schedule, no matter the cost. His two sons are also rail men, but don't share his single mindedness, which leads to one son's death and a fight with the other on the first son's funeral car leads to a crash, and demotion of Grumpy to mechanic in the yards. His redemption comes during the Mississippi flood, when he is again pressed into service to pilot a relief train along with his surviving son.