When a bad idea goes horribly wrong, can it turn out in the end to be a good thing? Ling Qi-Sa (George Hu), who goes by Xiao-Sa, is a young man who was not born to the right parents. His irresponsible parents have accumulated such a large gambling debt that Xiao-Sa has had to hold two jobs while attending school to help the family survive. But on a very bad day when Xiao-Sa loses both his jobs, he also finds out that this parents have fled from the mafia and saddled him with all of their debt. To add salt to injury, his parents also went to his former employer and collected his last paycheck before they took off.

Following an elite crew of workers-- brakemen, engineers, construction crews, mechanics and train drivers – Railroad Alaska illustrates the battle against ferocious weather and treacherous terrain to keep the State of Alaska’s critical 500-mile long railroad rolling to deliver life sustaining supplies. From controlled avalanches to prevent catastrophe, to fascinating characters, like Jim James, the one-handed handy man, learn what it takes to keep this train on track.