William J. Brotherton hopped freights as a youth into downtown Atlanta and beyond. He parlayed that into jobs with the Burlington Northern Railroad as a brakeman, conductor, and trainmaster. He worked freight trains as a “boomer” in some of the most beautiful areas of the country, with vistas only available to those sitting in a locomotive or caboose. He operated trains with some of the most interesting people you could ever meet and survived 35- and 40-below temperatures hanging on boxcars and worrying about frostbite. A promotion to trainmaster made him reevaluate his railroad career. Today, he is a lawyer.