Stan Garner, Movie Train Consultant and Actor, Dies at 83
Logan “Stan” Garner, a train coordinator for movie and TV productions who often played a train conductor on film, died May 20 in Arizona. He was 83.
Born in Pasadena, he lived in Southern California until moving to Arizona in 2007. Garner was a founding partner with Short Line Enterprises, where he restored and operated 19th century steam locomotives and passenger cars for museums and excursion trains.
After film and TV producers began requesting trains, the company created a movie railroad backlot, which was used for productions until the late 1980s. As owner of the Train Source, he became a sought-out train coordinator, assembling locomotives, providing passenger and freight cars, creating sets for train crossings, tracks and stations and providing personnel for TV productions.
He became a SAG member and was often cast as a train conductor or railroad worker in productions.
Garner worked on over 300 feature films, TV episodes, movies of the week and music videos. His film credits include “Midnight Run,” “Back to the Future Part III,” “City Slickers II,” “The Italian Job,” “Oh Brother Where Art Thou,” “True Grit,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “The Hangover Part 3” and “There Will Be Blood.”
In television, he appeared in shows including “War and Remembrance,” “China Beach,” “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,” “General Hospital,” “MacGyver,” “Quantum Leap” and “Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman,” on which he had a recurring role as the train conductor.
He is survived by his daughter, Erin Hutton (Geoff), grandsons Daniel and Colin, stepdaughter Colleen Benton (Greg Lowe) and great-grandsons Cayson and Ryland.
Memorial services will be held on June 29 at Arizona’s Payson First Church of the Nazarene at 11 a.m. and on August 10 at Altadena Baptist Church in Altadena, Calif. at 4 p.m.
Donations may be made to humanesocietycentralaz.org and tontonaturalbridge.org
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