62 year old Jeremiah Wilson is truly the Train Master of Willamette Western Railroad. He lives, breaths, and eats railroad. When Brett Banner, 32 year old heir to New York Eastern talks his dad into purchasing Willamette Western, there is immediately a clash between himself and Jeremiah. Jeremiah is fired by Brett two years from retirement and turns into a angry, depressed grandfather. When Brett's nine year old son Justin realizes Jeremiah's grandson Thomas can drive a locomotive, he kidnaps and holds Thomas' favorite dinosaur ransom. Justin, Thomas and 3 other children board an old engine in for repairs and accidentally turns it into runaway engine causing a chain reaction of events.

After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity, and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness.

As boys, Dick, Joe, and Benny Mahoney wanted to be Heroes. But disaster struck and their family was never the same. Now grown up and recently paroled, Dick decides to reconnect once more with his brothers before leaving the country for good. Their parents long gone, Joe runs the family business, and takes care of the emotionally damaged Benny. They come together remembering the good times, but Dick sees his brothers drowning in their routine. Joe visits the same comic store every week, only to freeze up when the cute cashier flirts with him. Benny medicates, watching cartoons around the clock except to visit his psychiatrist where the other patients are his only friends. Knowing they want to make a difference in their community, Dick pushes his brothers to discover what it means to be the change you want to see in the world-- and become