Volume 3 in this new series. The President of the United States, desperate to leave some sort of legacy once his term of office expires, has promised the nation that a great, new and ultra-modern freight-hauling bullet train system will begin to cross the country starting in just one year. The biggest problem? He hasn't started talking to any manufacturers or construction companies. Nobody has begun to design or build anything on a project that should take 10 years. Even when his advisors hatch a plan to split the work into dozens of manageable pieces, only a small handful of companies are willing to sign on. Tom Swift-knowing his company's strengths-believes that he can figure a way to dig the massive tunnels under the various mountain ranges on the western half of the country, and may even be able to build the locomotive engines. Things get underway but within weeks a few of the other companies begin to abandon their work, making it necessary for someone to take on more and more. To Tom and his father, that means Swift Enterprises. A rival company owner has it in for Tom, and a mysterious source of governmental sabotage is somewhere in Washington DC. With the lack of time and so many other things against him, is it going to be a mission impossible for the young inventor?