Things are not all well at Rynox House, where the company is on the verge of collapse. At the same time, its senior partner, FX Benedik, keeps receiving threats from the disgruntled Boswell Marsh, who is seen in town buying theatre tickets and revolvers. As the Rynox staff, including the young Tony Benedik, work to keep the business afloat, FX invites Marsh to settle his grievances at his house one fateful night....

Bob Holt's last journey as a Railway engine driver before his retirement, a journey disturbed by his distress at leaving the Railway, and his suspicions of the relationship between his wife and his fireman. Aboard the train are a pair of pickpockets, a honeymoon couple, a drunk, a temperance pamphleteer and a host of familiar types, all more-or-less bizarre in characteristically English ways. Bob takes an unexpected course of action, and the characters start interacting in varied and unexpected ways. When, at last, the train stops, all has been resolved, but not as might have been expected at the beginning of the journey.