Sim Webb was born to work for the railroad. He's a fireman -- shoveling coal into the furnace that heats the steam for the train engine. Sim works with Casey Jones, the railroad's best engineer. And Casey Jones has the best and biggest steam whistle on any train. That is, until Casey and Sim meet a sinister redheaded gentleman who offers Casey an even larger whistle made all of gold and with a heavenly sound. Casey must have the whistle at any cost, but Sim realizes that the unearthly whistle does not belong in human hands. Can Sim stop Casey from using the golden whistle before it dooms not only the train, but the entire world?

Using the famous incident from the lives of Sim Webb and Casey Jones, who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad in the last years of the nineteenth century, Nancy Farmer has crafted a thrilling tale of mythic proportions. And James Bernardin's vivid illustrations bring history and fable alive.