Plenty of straightforward action here, with Randolph Scott as a fustian engineer hired to build a railroad from Carson City to Reno and San Francisco. He's opposed by most of the town who have heretofore depended on the stagecoach and despise ruffians. He's also opposed by his brother because the girl in town falls for Scott. The chief heavy is Raymond Massey, leader of the gang called "the champagne bandits" who sabotage the railroad and kill some of the construction workers because it's always been easier to hold up horse-drawn wagons instead of trains.