Brunel, Stephenson, Locke and Vignoles - these were the magic names. And under them 10,000 laboured, blasting, shovelling and digging, changing the contours of Britain for a new age of railways.
Among them is Nick Wortley, whose love for the daughter of the local mill owner is cruelly thwarted. Taking flight he is drawn by the irresistable clamour of the great Sheffield to Manchester, a railway which is preparing to drive a path of steel under the Pennines. Stephenson said it was impossible; Nick and his companions will prove him wrong, but at a terrible price...