Hilary is perhaps the most interesting fellow I have ever met. At the age of 85 he can’t play fiddle due to hearing challenges from a lifetime of working on the railroad. Other than that, the man looks like he could be 55. He gave more than 40 years of service on the railroad without an injury. He tells me now with pride that he has lived the luckiest life, and that he barely has any aches and pains.
He has done more things in his lifetime than seems possible. The stories are endless and well chronicled by his local newspaper; so many adventures in his full life. Here are some of those adventures:
Robbery at his father's bank:
From the Grand Forks Herald:
Up to $15,000 in cash and $75,000 in bonds and securities, mostly believed non-negotiable, was stolen from the Stoltman Exchange here early Thursday by burglars who chiseled through a brick wall into a safe deposit vault.
Hilary Stoltman, 22, son of Walter Stoltman, the owner, found the place rifled through when he opened the door at 9AM Thursday. His father, en route from Florida to Washington DC, could not be contacted immediately.
Marshall County Sheriff Oscar Erickson, investigated the burglary. He said that no major clues had been uncovered. About 75 deposit boxes in the vault were emptied in strewn on the floor outside.
The burglars chiseled through nearly 2 feet of brick into the vault, after they first broke the dial on the vault door but could not gain entry. They broke into the former Citizens State Bank building by jimmying the front door. It was the biggest robbery in the history of Oslo, a town of 500, 20 miles North of Grand Forks in Northwest Minnesota.
Stoltman Fiddles His Way To Title
as printed in Thief River Falls Times, 07-21-1976
Hilary Stoltman of Thief River Falls has been fiddling with the violin since he was 16 years old. Recently, he began playing in competitions, claiming a fourth place, two thirds, a second and three first places. The most recent victory was a first place in the Crookston Pioneer Days Festival, considered one of the oldest and most prestigious contests in the area.
In capturing the Crookston trophy, a small scale model violin on a walnut plaque, and $50 prize money, Stoltman followed in the footsteps of his father who won the event in 1968. Walter Stoltman, a native of the Oslo, Minnesota area and later of Thief River Falls, was a good fiddler in his own right.
“I'll probably never play as well as my dad,” Hilary says in tribute to his late father. “He was a really fine musician. He would play with great feeling. But he couldn't teach anyone else to play.”
Hilary tells about his own decision to learn to play the fiddle after growing up with fiddle music in the house. He asked his dad to show him how to play the violin and Walter eagerly agreed.
“He picked up the violin and played a tune, handed the fiddle over to me and said, now you do it,” Stoltman explained. I said, “But Dad, you have to teach me. I don't know how.” And although he could play the fiddle really well, he never could teach. “I had to take lessons in Grand Forks when I had one of the area’s best fiddlers right in the house.”
Stoltman studied for six months with Miss Lewis, who was associated with the University of North Dakota music department. “It took me that long to break the bad habits I had picked up on my own,” Hilary explained. “I would strongly recommend that anyone serious about learning to play the fiddle take some professional lessons to learn the proper technique. It's so very necessary to have the right technique for dexterity and position.”
Stoltman credits James Solsten, orchestra conductor and instructor at Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, with being a good violin instructor. “Fiddling is the lazy man's way of playing the violin,” he said.
“I believe a person can get the most enjoyment out of the violin, regardless of what instruments he or she chooses to play. It's a good solo instrument, it's easy to carry around and it isn't loud like brass instruments or precise like a piano. When you hit the key you get the same note all the time. A violin is part of you.”
Although Stoltman can play some music by notes, he plays mostly by ear and listens repeatedly to recordings. “Once I know a song, I can play it,” he said. “Half of the music you hear at contests doesn't even have a name. Some of it is a couple hundred years old and there isn't, and probably never was, any written music for it. It just gets played because it sounds good and it stays around that way.”
Hilary said that fiddle influence is probably felt within families, with children picking up a feel for the music from their parents. A few years ago at Crookston, Hilary, his dad and his daughter all played in the contest for a three-generation entry.
First place winners at a canoe contest in North Dakota:
Hilary Stoltman takes final ride on Soo Line
By David Hill, Associate Editor, Thief River Times, Wednesday, July 13, 1994
Soo Line Engineer Hilary Stoltman of Thief River Falls took his last ride down Soo Line tracks as engineer on Thursday, June 30. Although after 41 years everything about railroading must seem routine, this day marked the end of an era, and hopefully the start of a new phase in Stoltman’s life.
After 41 years, Stoltman didn’t much like working the chain gang, but if he was going to work with his son Steve, a brakeman with Soo Line, then he would have to work on the chain gang.
I learned exactly what “chain gang” meant fairly quickly. It means you’re on the job seven days a week and on call 24 hours a day without any schedule.
What exactly was so extraordinary about this trip, and this retirement, that a reporter was asked to ride along with Hilary Stoltman on his last run? Hilary Stoltman is the last engineer on Soo Line who worked on steam engines. He began his career with Soo Line as a fireman on a steam engine. With all but one year in Thief River Falls, Stoltman has seen a lot of changes during his career. “I could talk to you for a week and still not tell all of the stories,” Stoltman said.
When Stoltman arrived at Soo Line headquarters in the 1100 block of North Atlantic on the evening of Wednesday, June 29, he was with his wife and mother. He was also carrying an overnight bag and a violin case. He explained that he plays his violin while he waits for his next train or during a layoff period. Railroad employees can only work 12 hours before having to take an eight-hour rest. It used to be 16 and then it was 14, and then it was 12, Stoltman said.
In any event, being an employee for the railroad means learning to occupy your time while you wait, and not being able to make many plans. In this job, patience is a virtue, and a packed overnight bag by the door a rule. For Stoltman, a delay means practice on his violin. He’s had a lot of practice.
Hilary’s wife and mother were there to see him off on his last run with the Soo Line, which is now owned by Canadian Pacific. His mother was with him on his first day of work. It was somewhat of a disappointment to her because, she said, Hilary made her hide in the back seat of their car. Hilary thought if people would see her, they would know he was not old enough to work on the railroad. To get the job with the railroad, Hilary told his employers he was 21 instead of 19.
As she seemed ready to launch into another story, Hilary spared no time getting on the train and to work. Either the stories were getting too embarrassing, or he didn’t want to allow anything to disrupt the routine he had developed after 41 years of work. Perhaps too, he didn’t want to think about this last day. He said he wasn’t sure how he would react on that first day when he wouldn’t have to go to work anymore. “It will be a big change because all of a sudden, there it is.”
It didn’t take him long. He called during the Fourth of July weekend after his last week to say he was going on a one-week boat tour of Lake of the Woods.
The old steam engines were an unfathomable maze of pipes, valves, gauges and levers. As a fireman, Hilary learned tricks to keeping the hungry engines fed with coal, which he learned on the job. Now engineers go to school and watch the dials and computer readouts.
Stoltman believes being an engineer has been a great job. Other than odd hours, being an engineer is kind of like combining the best of a desk job and outdoor job. “It has been an interesting life,” he said.
As he neared retirement, Stoltman reflected on the years of being an engineer. He conservatively estimated that he has traveled roughly 3,000 miles per month by rail and over the 41 years, covered a total of about 1,475,000 miles. If anyone cares to count, there are 3,100 railroad ties per mile. So that means he has travelled over roughly 4.5 billion railroad ties.
Preserving and protecting the 1024:
The outdoor life at his cabin:
Snowmobile enthusiast:
Hilary is an avid snowmobile enthusiast. This trail is named to honor all of his volunteer work preserving trails in Minnesota. He says the bears chewed up the sign.
Part-time trapper:
World traveler:
Hilary has traveled all over in his life. Last time I visited with him, he had recently gotten back from China. At 73, his idea of a good "working vacation," was to learn the ropes of helping his friend's commercial fishing operation in Alaska.
Another first place finish:
Robbery at his father's bank:
From the Grand Forks Herald:
Up to $15,000 in cash and $75,000 in bonds and securities, mostly believed non-negotiable, was stolen from the Stoltman Exchange here early Thursday by burglars who chiseled through a brick wall into a safe deposit vault.
Hilary Stoltman, 22, son of Walter Stoltman, the owner, found the place rifled through when he opened the door at 9AM Thursday. His father, en route from Florida to Washington DC, could not be contacted immediately.
Marshall County Sheriff Oscar Erickson, investigated the burglary. He said that no major clues had been uncovered. About 75 deposit boxes in the vault were emptied in strewn on the floor outside.
The burglars chiseled through nearly 2 feet of brick into the vault, after they first broke the dial on the vault door but could not gain entry. They broke into the former Citizens State Bank building by jimmying the front door. It was the biggest robbery in the history of Oslo, a town of 500, 20 miles North of Grand Forks in Northwest Minnesota.
Stoltman Fiddles His Way To Title
as printed in Thief River Falls Times, 07-21-1976
Hilary Stoltman of Thief River Falls has been fiddling with the violin since he was 16 years old. Recently, he began playing in competitions, claiming a fourth place, two thirds, a second and three first places. The most recent victory was a first place in the Crookston Pioneer Days Festival, considered one of the oldest and most prestigious contests in the area.
In capturing the Crookston trophy, a small scale model violin on a walnut plaque, and $50 prize money, Stoltman followed in the footsteps of his father who won the event in 1968. Walter Stoltman, a native of the Oslo, Minnesota area and later of Thief River Falls, was a good fiddler in his own right.
“I'll probably never play as well as my dad,” Hilary says in tribute to his late father. “He was a really fine musician. He would play with great feeling. But he couldn't teach anyone else to play.”
Hilary tells about his own decision to learn to play the fiddle after growing up with fiddle music in the house. He asked his dad to show him how to play the violin and Walter eagerly agreed.
“He picked up the violin and played a tune, handed the fiddle over to me and said, now you do it,” Stoltman explained. I said, “But Dad, you have to teach me. I don't know how.” And although he could play the fiddle really well, he never could teach. “I had to take lessons in Grand Forks when I had one of the area’s best fiddlers right in the house.”
Stoltman studied for six months with Miss Lewis, who was associated with the University of North Dakota music department. “It took me that long to break the bad habits I had picked up on my own,” Hilary explained. “I would strongly recommend that anyone serious about learning to play the fiddle take some professional lessons to learn the proper technique. It's so very necessary to have the right technique for dexterity and position.”
Stoltman credits James Solsten, orchestra conductor and instructor at Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, with being a good violin instructor. “Fiddling is the lazy man's way of playing the violin,” he said.
“I believe a person can get the most enjoyment out of the violin, regardless of what instruments he or she chooses to play. It's a good solo instrument, it's easy to carry around and it isn't loud like brass instruments or precise like a piano. When you hit the key you get the same note all the time. A violin is part of you.”
Although Stoltman can play some music by notes, he plays mostly by ear and listens repeatedly to recordings. “Once I know a song, I can play it,” he said. “Half of the music you hear at contests doesn't even have a name. Some of it is a couple hundred years old and there isn't, and probably never was, any written music for it. It just gets played because it sounds good and it stays around that way.”
Hilary said that fiddle influence is probably felt within families, with children picking up a feel for the music from their parents. A few years ago at Crookston, Hilary, his dad and his daughter all played in the contest for a three-generation entry.
First place winners at a canoe contest in North Dakota:
Hilary Stoltman takes final ride on Soo Line
By David Hill, Associate Editor, Thief River Times, Wednesday, July 13, 1994
Soo Line Engineer Hilary Stoltman of Thief River Falls took his last ride down Soo Line tracks as engineer on Thursday, June 30. Although after 41 years everything about railroading must seem routine, this day marked the end of an era, and hopefully the start of a new phase in Stoltman’s life.
After 41 years, Stoltman didn’t much like working the chain gang, but if he was going to work with his son Steve, a brakeman with Soo Line, then he would have to work on the chain gang.
I learned exactly what “chain gang” meant fairly quickly. It means you’re on the job seven days a week and on call 24 hours a day without any schedule.What exactly was so extraordinary about this trip, and this retirement, that a reporter was asked to ride along with Hilary Stoltman on his last run? Hilary Stoltman is the last engineer on Soo Line who worked on steam engines. He began his career with Soo Line as a fireman on a steam engine. With all but one year in Thief River Falls, Stoltman has seen a lot of changes during his career. “I could talk to you for a week and still not tell all of the stories,” Stoltman said.
When Stoltman arrived at Soo Line headquarters in the 1100 block of North Atlantic on the evening of Wednesday, June 29, he was with his wife and mother. He was also carrying an overnight bag and a violin case. He explained that he plays his violin while he waits for his next train or during a layoff period. Railroad employees can only work 12 hours before having to take an eight-hour rest. It used to be 16 and then it was 14, and then it was 12, Stoltman said.
In any event, being an employee for the railroad means learning to occupy your time while you wait, and not being able to make many plans. In this job, patience is a virtue, and a packed overnight bag by the door a rule. For Stoltman, a delay means practice on his violin. He’s had a lot of practice.
Hilary’s wife and mother were there to see him off on his last run with the Soo Line, which is now owned by Canadian Pacific. His mother was with him on his first day of work. It was somewhat of a disappointment to her because, she said, Hilary made her hide in the back seat of their car. Hilary thought if people would see her, they would know he was not old enough to work on the railroad. To get the job with the railroad, Hilary told his employers he was 21 instead of 19.
As she seemed ready to launch into another story, Hilary spared no time getting on the train and to work. Either the stories were getting too embarrassing, or he didn’t want to allow anything to disrupt the routine he had developed after 41 years of work. Perhaps too, he didn’t want to think about this last day. He said he wasn’t sure how he would react on that first day when he wouldn’t have to go to work anymore. “It will be a big change because all of a sudden, there it is.”
It didn’t take him long. He called during the Fourth of July weekend after his last week to say he was going on a one-week boat tour of Lake of the Woods.
The old steam engines were an unfathomable maze of pipes, valves, gauges and levers. As a fireman, Hilary learned tricks to keeping the hungry engines fed with coal, which he learned on the job. Now engineers go to school and watch the dials and computer readouts.
Stoltman believes being an engineer has been a great job. Other than odd hours, being an engineer is kind of like combining the best of a desk job and outdoor job. “It has been an interesting life,” he said.
As he neared retirement, Stoltman reflected on the years of being an engineer. He conservatively estimated that he has traveled roughly 3,000 miles per month by rail and over the 41 years, covered a total of about 1,475,000 miles. If anyone cares to count, there are 3,100 railroad ties per mile. So that means he has travelled over roughly 4.5 billion railroad ties.
Preserving and protecting the 1024:
Group to raise funds to put a canopy over the 1024
By David Hill, Editor. Thief River Falls Times
A group of Thief River Falls citizens is interested in putting a canopy over the 1024 engine outside the old Soo Line Depot.
Rust spots are obvious on the 1024, which is hardly surprising since it was built by the American Locomotive Co. in 1912 and was in service on the Soo Line for many years. After years in the weather, an effort is being attempted to preserve the Mikado engine and tender. This effort intends to make sure the next generation will be able to appreciate its importance.
The 1024 is one of eight bought from the C.I. & L. It’s called a Mikado because the first engines of this wheel arrangement were made for the Japanese government. The Soo Line was supposedly the first U.S. railroad to adopt the Mikado type. After completing its service, it was acquired by the City of Thief River Falls and positioned outside the depot.
Last week Hilary Stoltman, Jim Dagg, City Administrator, Larry Kruse, City Community Services Director, Mark Borseth and Dean Kaushagen gathered near engine 1024 to discuss what the canopy might look like.
Borseth said he had asked a class at Northland Community and Technical College to come up with some designs. At this point the options are wide open, but it is anticipated that the design will match the structure of the Soo Line Depot. Stoltman has fond memories of his days working on the railroad even though many were long and hard. At the start of his career Stoltman said his work days were 16 hours long.
Stoltman, who has been retired for 21 years, is often asked to serve as a tour guide to groups stopping to look at the engine.
Stoltman said he knows of only two others in town who can remember working on a steam engine- Sherman Johnson and Bob Evenson, so it is becoming more and more important to record that history. Stoltman added there aren’t very many steam engines around either. Most have been cut up for scrap.
So much has changed since his early days on a steam engine. Stoltman started, as many did, as a fireman, and like so many jobs then, working on the railroad was very labor intensive.
As an example, Stoltman said every train was required to have an engineer, a fireman, a head brakeman, a flag man, a field man and a conductor. The many people performed many different jobs, but were absolutely needed just to communicate. Those communications were conducted through hand signals or lanterns. Today, each train has an engineer and a conductor. That’s it. And, the crew communicates with radios and computer. Stoltman said the engines even have self-analyzing features that tell the crew if anything is wrong. At the height of the steam era in Thief River Falls, Stoltman estimated that the railroad employed about 400 people. Today, he guesses they employ about 60, but they handle more than twice the tonnage.
There have been huge changes during Stoltman’s lifetime and changes that need to be documented and saved, just like the old 1024.
In addition to the many personal stories connected to the train and railroad, a lot of the region’s history is wrapped up with the railroad.
A Minnesota State University, Moorhead Northwest Minnesota Historical Center report states, “The railroads opened the frontier to Americans and immigrants who wanted to start a new life for themselves and their families. The railroad connected new lands, increased settlement, and gave birth to new industries and businesses which created wealth.” That was true of the Thief River Falls area.
Stoltman and Gaylord Pederson replaced the windows of the 1024 last year and made sure the belt on the engine was functional at their expense. The windows will last for years because they used treated lumber, but the rest of the engine may not fare as well. Stoltman said there are parts of the train that have rusted through.
One way to help protect the old engine is with a canopy. Costs of a canopy are being estimated at between $30,000 and $40,000.
The outdoor life at his cabin:
Snowmobile enthusiast:
Hilary is an avid snowmobile enthusiast. This trail is named to honor all of his volunteer work preserving trails in Minnesota. He says the bears chewed up the sign.
Part-time trapper:
World traveler:
Hilary has traveled all over in his life. Last time I visited with him, he had recently gotten back from China. At 73, his idea of a good "working vacation," was to learn the ropes of helping his friend's commercial fishing operation in Alaska.
Another first place finish:
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