William Brotherton grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and hopped freight trains for fun as a youth. Always adventurous, and satisfying a childhood dream of his, he became a railroad brakeman, conductor and trainmaster for the Burlington Northern Railway in North Dakota, and worked freight trains throughout the Midwest, ending up as a trainmaster in Denver. His book, "Burlington Northern Adventures: Railroading in the Days of the Caboose", tells about those days, and much more.