Set on the Pacific Northwest railways at the height of the Depression, this is the story of how a crafty, train-hopping drifter, "A-No. 1," and his young accomplice encounter Shack, a sadistic railroad conductor who has sworn that no hobo will ride his train for free. "A" is ready to put his life at stake to become a local legend - as the first person who survived the trip on Shack's notorious train.

In 1939 London, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew is a middle-aged governess who finds herself once again unfairly dismissed from her job. Now she must seize the day if she wants a job. She does this by intercepting an employment assignment outside of her comfort level as social secretary. Arriving at a penthouse apartment for the interview, Miss Pettigrew is catapulted into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia...