When his father dies, Martin Bishop (Craig Olejnik) gets a job building the Canadian railroad in the mid-1960s. As timekeeper, he's responsible for ensuring the crew stays on pace to lay 52 miles of track through some of the country's roughest terrain in 52 days. Bishop soon runs afoul of the domineering foreman Fisk (Stephen McHattie), who leads the remote work camp with an iron fist and may have a secret agenda.