Robert M. Brown was the Chief Engineer for Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad

The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

 in the 1960s and 1970s. For his work with the railroad, Modern Railways magazine selected Brown to receive the magazine's Man of the Year award in 1978; the award has since been continued by Railway Age

Railway Age

Railway Age is an American trade journal for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. The magazine's original title was the Western Railroad Gazette, and was renamed the Railroad Gazette in 1870...

 magazine as the Railroader of the Year

Railroader of the Year

Railroader of the Year is an annual award presented to a North American railroad industry worker by trade journal Railway Age. The award was first presented in 1964 by trade journal Modern Railroads and has continued through the magazine acquisition in 1992 to the present.Past recipients of this...

. He was the first railway Chief Engineer to receive this honor that was previously awarded only to top-level executives. Brown was also involved in the hiring process at Union Pacific for Bill Wimmer, the 2007 recipient of the Railroader of the Year award, and coincidentally, only the second Chief Engineer to be chosen for the honor.