Martin Vaughner is Piston's owner and conductor. The mining company  traded Piston to him in exchange for a large piece of land he owned up  north. Piston was in pretty bad shape when he came in, but he cleaned  him up and got him on the tracks again, and loves him like a son. The  town fell in love with Piston too, and aided Martin in building a barn  big enough for him to live in. 

His family thinks it's weird that  he has a 50 foot tall metal train son now, but it's only really awkward  at Thanksgiving and Christmas.