Stanley Hall, of East Broad Top fame, passed away this afternoon. I do not have any details but will pass them along when I get them.

He started right out of high school as a painter at the railroad when it reopened in 1960 and worked his way up to General Manager, being the on-site head of the railroad since the retirement of Roy Wilburn in 1989. Stanley left the EBT in early 2010 and has had a series of health issues since about 2008.

He will be missed.

Damn.

NOW I'm gonna worry.

I'll miss him... I worked with him on many Winter & Fall (and even the Spring!) Spectaculars. He was great to work with - as long as you didn't do something against his wishes! I always thought of him as Mr. EBT himself!

Oh my gracious. I am at a loss for words.

Stanley was an essential a part of the EBT--he was the living thread which wove it all together. Now literally part of the road's essence is gone.

We can preserve much, but we cannot repeal mortality and the loss of living connections that it brings.

I mourn him sincerely.

Sad news, indeed. I'm sorry he did not get to enjoy a long retirement, and I will always value the friendship and kindness he graciously extended to me whenever I stopped by.

Alan Maples
Everett Railroad

Here is a 2008 biography of Stanley published in the Altoona Mirror.
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/513736/-This-place-has-made-me-.html

My favorite quote from the story:

''I consider the EBT the crown jewel of Pennsylvania and a place that stands right up there with Gettysburg,'' Hall said. ''To do away with it, well, you might as well melt the Liberty Bell.''

Hyperbole? Maybe. . .maybe not. . .

One story Mr. Hall once told me was that both he and Nick Kovalchick "talked" with the locomotives--and that the locomotives talked back!

The story, as best as I can recall it, went something like this:

Just after Mr. Kovalchick bought the railroad, he was looking over the silent property, and went to look over the roundhouse. Stepping inside, he heard voices.

"Oh," said No. 12, "It looks like the end for us. I've heard the men say a scrap dealer has bought this railroad and us. And I'll probably be the first to go, because I'm the oldest."

"No," No. 14 replied, "you'll have a little more time. I've got more miles than you, and especially in recent years. I'll be the first one--to die."

"I think it will be one us big girls," said the 18. "We have more metal in us, and scrap is high. Oh, I hate to think of that torch."

The M-1 spoke up: "Quiet, quiet! Someone's in here, I heard the door just now!"

Mr. Kovalchick had heard all this, and he walked to the front of the roundhouse, and spoke to the engines and the M-1. "Rest easy, girls, I'm not going to cut you, I'm going to bring you back."

Which of course, he did.

I wonder how many other stories like that were in Mr. Hall's head. If he had written then down, I would bet he could have given the Rev. W. V. Awdry ("Thomas the Tank Engine") a run for the money.

--Forwarded for Lawrence Biemiller...

All,

Deneen Hall, Stanley's daughter-in-law, asked me to pass on information about
the memorial service, which will be next Saturday, February 4, at the Sugar Run
Church of the Brethren. Visiting with the family is from 10 to 11 a.m.; the
service begins at 11.

The church's address is 17193 Hill Valley Rd., Shirleysburg, Pa., 17260. (Hill
Valley Road is also route 747, which meets 522 just north of where 522 crosses
the Augwick, and the EBT, above Shirleysburg.)

In lieu of flowers the family asks that contributions be made to Hospice of
Huntingdon County. As soon as I can find an address I'll forward it.

If you want to send a card to Susie Hall, Stanley's wife, the address is:

20921 Hall Rd
Three Springs, PA 17264

An obituary is expected to appear in Saturday's Huntingdon Daily News, which is
not available online. I'll try to find a copy here in Rockhill Furnace in the
morning and transcribe it for the EBT Facebook page.

I'm sure the FEBT board will do something, but I haven't heard what.

Sad to hear. I had the privilege of meeting him on my first visit to the EBT.

Stanley G. Hall, 69, of Hall Road, Three Springs, died at 3:15 p.m. Thursday,
January 26, 2012, at his home.

Born March 6, 1942, at York, he was the son of the late Frank G. and Mary (Loope)
Hall. He was married to the former Susan M. Gartland July 15, 1961, at the Grace
United Methodist Church, Three Springs. Mrs. Hall survives at their home.

Mr. Hall is survived by his children, Stanley G. Hall Jr. and his wife,
Catherine, and Penny S. Shope and her husband, Jeff, all of Saltillo, Michael A.
Hall and his wife, Liana, of Three Springs, and Richard L. Hall and his wife,
Deneen, of R.D. Mapleton. He is survived by his son-in-law, Craig Yohn, and his
wife, Brenda, of Three Springs. Mr. Hall is survived by 16 grandchildren and
three great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, M. Lucy Cohenour of
R.D. Three Springs.

Mr. Hall was preceded in death by his daughter, Paula Yohn.

He was a member of St. Michael's Orthodox Church in Wood.

As a child, Mr. Hall lived on a farm beside the East Broad Top Railroad, and he
liked to tell the story of how his father refused to believe a newspaper report
that the coal-hauling line's imminent closing in early 1956. When the EBT
reopened, in 1960, Mr. Hall was hired as a painter just three days after
graduating from high school, and he worked there for the next 50 years.

He was fond of saying that he had done every imaginable job on the historic
railroad—from "swamping the commodes" to maintaining and running steam engines,
planning major events, negotiating with federal railroad authorities, overseeing
preservation of the machine-shop complex, and greeting visitors of all ages. He
was the railroad's general manager from 1987 to 2010, and until recently he
continued managing local properties for the line’s owners, Joe and Judy Kovalchick.

Known around the railroad for his mercurial temper, Mr. Hall was also a
enthusiastic storyteller who had both a library’s worth of entertaining tales and
enough homespun sayings to fill a dictionary. He also played a crucial role in
conveying what he had learned in the 1960s from old-time EBT employees—how to
set a steam engine’s valve motion, for instance, or how to press a wheel onto an
axle—to younger crew members.

IMr. Hall was honored at the Governor's Residence in Harrisburg in June 2101 with
a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Keystone Society for Tourism, which
celebrates "outstanding contributions to tourism in Pennsylvania."

Nothing meant more to Mr. Hall than his family, who he loved spending time with
at the Outer Banks. He enjoyed his many years as a dairy farmer, and was an avid
outdoorsman and hunter. His greatest passion, next to his family, was his 50-plus
year career at the East Broad Top Railroad.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 4, at the Sugar Run
Church of the Brethren, 17193 Hill Valley Road, Shirleysburg, with the Rev. James
Hullihen officiating. Friends may call at the church one hour prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Home Nursing
Agency, Hospice, 9492 William Penn Highway, Suite 1, Huntingdon, Pa., 16652.

I am so saddened by this news! Stanley was a great friend and a mentor. He always liked to remind me that he had known me since I was a baby and had gotten to know me over the years as I grew up. The eventual friendship led me to becoming a fireman and engineer at the EBT. Had it not been for him and his kindness to me I may never had been able to realize my lifelong dream of being an engineer for EBT and Strasburg.

I will never forget how I started working there. I was up to EBT one weekend and was talking with Stanley as the train and #14 were sitting in front of the station, I asked him "how do you learn to run one of those things?". I wasn't attempting to actually get an invitation to work there but he looked at me and asked "what are you doing next weekend?", I said nothing and he said "well, come on up and we'll teach you!" Talk about a dream come true! That was in 1998 and I have been running steam engines ever since!

I loved spending time with him at the railroad and away from the railroad as well. The EBT and Stanley Hall are forever intertwined in history! I will greatly miss him! I Love You Stan! May you rest in peace my friend!!

Sincerely,
Aaron Sholley

A GREAT MAN and a GREAT RAILROAD ! His vision of re-extending the line to Mt. Union makes A LOT of sense ! It would be a win win not only for the EBT RR because it would put them closer to tourist from the PA Turnpike but it would also help the folks in Mt. Union with the added tourism.
I'm sadden to learn of the passing of such a dedicated man !


Kevin K.