The film takes place in Turkmenistan during the Second World War. Here, at a small railway siding, chance brings together Zina, whose husband disappeared at the front, Nadya from besieged Leningrad, and locomotive depot driver Andrei, who dreams of the front and the front line. The driver, having fallen in love with Zina, immediately proposes to her. But Zina does not consider herself a widow - and refuses her beloved. After which - to spite the whole world - the hero marries the silent Nadya and soon receives an assignment to the front. While accompanying a train with fuel, Andrei dies during the bombing of a railway junction, never having been to the front.

The film covers the period from 1903 to the mid-1920s. In the center of the epic narrative is the story of the difficult love of the poor Berda and the daughter of the shepherd Uzuk, who will be freed and made happy by the revolution.