In 1871, Aitken was employed by the Glasgow and South Western Railway Company as a signalman at Kilmacolm. His career led to Aitken becoming a traffic inspector with the company.

Love states that Aitken, who lived in Greenock, started writing poetry at an early age and later had several books of poems published. He became known as the Railway Poet or the Laureate of the Line because many of his works were what Love describes as relating to incidents and events in the life of the railway.
(Permalink) Glasgow and South Western Railway Kilmacolm Railway poet William Aitken