Shining Time Station is a children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment (the American branch of The Britt Allcroft Company), in association with Catalyst Entertainment in seasons 2 and 3, for New York City's PBS station WNET/Thirteen New York, and was originally taped in New York City during its first season and in Toronto during the rest of its run. It incorporated sequences from the British television show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, which was in turn based on the books of The Railway Series written by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry.
The series aired on PBS from January 29, 1989, until June 11, 1993, with four hour-long "Family Specials" premiering in primetime throughout 1995. Reruns continued to air on PBS until June 11, 1998. Shining Time Station reruns aired on Fox Family from 1998 to 1999, and on Nick Jr. from June to August 2000 to promote the theatrical release of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The series also aired on Canadian television networks such as APTN and SCN. Elements from the show were incorporated into the 2000 film Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
The initial 1989 season featured a cast that included Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor, Didi Conn as Stacy Jones, Brian O'Connor as Horace Schemer, Leonard Jackson as Harry Cupper, Jason Woliner as Matt Jones and Nicole Leach as Tanya Cupper. Following a Christmas special with the original cast, the show was retooled for the second (1991) and third (1993) seasons, with only Conn and O'Connor reprising their prior roles. George Carlin replaced Starr as Mr. Conductor, while Erica Luttrell, Ari Magder, Danielle Marcot, and Tom Jackson joined the primary cast in newly created roles. The series concluded with four "Family Specials", aired in 1995. Providing the musical numbers for the show was The Jukebox Band, a group of puppets.
In 1996, Carlin appeared in a spin-off series called Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales, which featured only six episodes with five Thomas stories and one music video each. The station interior was kept for the spin-off.
Background After the success of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the United Kingdom, Britt Allcroft and her production company teamed up with PBS station WNET in New York City to produce and distribute the sitcom-esque Shining Time Station, every episode of which would include a couple of episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. The series starred Ringo Starr, George Carlin, Didi Conn, Brian O'Connor, and the Flexitoon Puppets. Ringo Starr, who had already been providing the narration for the British series, agreed to extend the role to include the on-screen character called Mr. Conductor in Shining Time Station. He left the show after its initial season to focus on his musical career and was replaced by George Carlin. Production took place in New York City for the first season and then subsequently in Toronto.
Shining Time Station received critical acclaim. In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker states that, compared to the faster paced Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, "'Shining Time Station' wants to slow things down. It's an old-fashioned show that creates a gentle, lulling atmosphere to convince children that life is fun and that trains are the way to travel." It was a ratings success as well. In its first season, the show averaged a 0.9 Nielsen rating, translating to about 1.2 million viewers on average. At the peak of its popularity, the show brought in up to 7.5 million viewers per week.
Overview The Shining Time Station is a fictional train station on the Indian Valley Railroad in an unknown part of the United States. It is managed by Stacy Jones. Its workshop is run in the first season by Harry Cupper, and thereafter by Billy Twofeathers. A local named Horace Schemer, simply referred to as Schemer, runs the station's arcade and serves as the series' comic relief. He often comes up with tricks and schemes (hence his surname) to get his ways, although they usually backfire on him as a result of his foolishness. The narrative is driven by regular and incidental visitors to the station.
Mr. Conductor is a tiny man who lives in a signal house inside the station's mural and tells the stories taken from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends to the kids. He also introduces songs to the kids in the Anything Tunnel. Sometimes, he may present to the kids a magic bubble that has the song inside as a way of introducing it. On occasion, the kids may look through a film viewer to see the song or film.
Cast Main Didi Conn as Stacy Jones, the kindhearted station master and aunt to Matt and Dan Brian O'Connor as Horace Schemer, the proprietor of the station's arcade Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor (season 1, Christmas special), a 20-centimetre tall conductor with a magic whistle that helps him teleport away George Carlin as Mr. Conductor (seasons 2–3, family specials), the first Mr. Conductor's cousin Leonard Jackson as Henry "Harry" Cupper (season 1, Christmas special, family special 3), an engineer and grandfather of Tanya and Kara Nicole Leach as Tanya Cupper (main, season 1, Christmas special; guest, season 2), Harry's granddaughter and Kara's cousin Jason Woliner as Matthew "Matt" Jones (main, season 1, Christmas special; guest, season 2), Stacy's nephew who visits the station Tom Jackson as Billy Twofeathers (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), the engineer who replaced Harry after he left and Kit's uncle Erica Luttrell as Kara Cupper (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), Harry's granddaughter and Tanya's cousin Ari Magder as Daniel "Dan" Jones (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), Stacy's nephew and Matt's cousin Danielle Marcot – Becky (recurring, season 2; main, season 3, Family Specials), a local girl who is friends with Dan and Kara
Recurring Jerome Dempsey as Osgood Bob Flopdinger, the mayor of the town of Shining Time Mart Hulswit as J.B. King, Esq., the superintendent of the Indian Valley Railroad Bobo Lewis as Midge Smoot, the town gossip Jonathan Shapiro as Schemee (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), Schemer's nephew Gerard Parkes as Barton Winslow (seasons 2–3), the proprietor of the town's general store Barbara Hamilton as Ginny Johnson (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), a farmer Aurelio Padrón as Felix Perez (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), a bus driver Bucky Hill as Kit Twofeathers (Family Specials), Billy's nephew
Notable guest stars Ardon Bess as Tucker Cooper, Harry's cousin (Tis a Gift") Lloyd Bridges as Mr. Nicholas (Tis a Gift") Rachel Miner as Vickie (Tis a Gift") Ed Begley Jr. as Ned Kincaid and his great-grandson ("Once Upon a Time") Jack Klugman as Max Okowsky ("Second Chances") Teri Garr as Sister Conductor ("One of the Family") Jeannette Charles as the Queen ("Queen for a Day")
The Jukebox Band Jonathan Freeman as Tito Swing, the pianist Olga Marin as Didi, the drummer Wayne White (1989) and Alan Semok (1990–95) as Tex, a guitarist Craig Marin as Rex, a guitarist Peter Baird (1989–95), Alan Semok (1989), and Kenny Miele (1990–95) puppeteering Grace, the bass guitarist Emily Bindinger as the singing voice of Didi Rory Dodd as the singing voice of Tex and Rex Vaneese Thomas as the speaking voice (1989) and singing voice (1989–95) of Grace Beverly Glenn-Copeland as the speaking voice (1990–95) of Grace
The instrumentation of the songs was performed and produced by Steve Horelick, who also arranged the vocals. The music was arranged by Larry Wolf.
Segments The intro to each episode consists of the main theme song of the show, played to footage of the Union Pacific Steam Locomotive 844 and the credits of the series' characters. Only the first verse is sung for the beginning theme. The closing credits contain more shots of the Union Pacific 844, in addition to the full Shining Time Station theme song. For the Christmas special "'Tis A Gift", the footage used for the opening and closing sequences was filmed at the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Arizona and features their locomotive #18. Flexitoons Puppets & Marionettes – The Jukebox Band – the show's station band that performs a song inside the jukebox. They consist of pianist Tito Swing, drummer Didi, guitarists Tex and Rex (who control the guitar together), and bass guitarist Grace Bass. JJ Silvers is the manager of The Jukebox Band. Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends – Storytellers, Ringo Starr and George Carlin. The Anything Tunnel – Inside the tunnel on the station's mural is a song with a cartoon, a stop motion clip, or a live action one. Sometimes instead of the Anything Tunnel, Mr. Conductor would show a magic bubble or one of the kids would look through a film viewer.
Episodes Series overview
Season 1 (1989) overall in season Title Directed by Written by Thomas stories Featured song(s) Air date 1 "A Place Unlike Any Other" Matthew Diamond Brian McConnachie "Thomas Gets Tricked""Edward Helps Out" "I've Been Working on the Railroad""Start Where You Are" January 29, 1989 2 "Does It Bite?" "Come Out, Henry!""Henry to the Rescue" "Camptown Races""Don't Be Afraid" February 5, 1989 3 "And the Band Played Off" "A Big Day for Thomas""Trouble for Thomas" "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain""Learn from Your Mistakes" February 12, 1989 4 "Pitching In and Helping Out" Ellis Weiner "Thomas Saves the Day""James Learns a Lesson" "Railroad Corral" February 19, 1989 5 "Show and Yell" Brian McConnachie "Foolish Freight Cars""A Proud Day for James" "Freight Train""Bounce Back" February 26, 1989 6 "Faith, Hope and Anxiety" "Thomas and the Conductor""Thomas Goes Fishing" "Wabash Cannonball""The Kite Song" March 5, 1989 7 "Agree to Disagree" Ellis Weiner "Terence the Tractor""Thomas and Bertie's Great Race" "Abilene""We Do Things Differently" March 12, 1989 8 "Whistle While You Work" "Tenders and Turntables""Trouble in the Shed" "Pop Goes the Weasel""Let's All Work Together" March 19, 1989 9 "Two Old Hands" "Percy Runs Away""Thomas Comes to Breakfast" "A Railroader for Me""Baking a Cake" March 26, 1989 10 "Happy Accidents" Alan Kingsberg "Henry's Special Coal""The Flying Kipper" "Wreck of the Old 97" April 2, 1989 11 "Ring in the Old" "Toby the Tram Engine""Thomas Breaks the Rules" "Train Is a Comin"Old But Wise" April 9, 1989 12 "Impractical Jokes" Ellis Weiner "A Cow on the Line""Old Iron" "Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" April 16, 1989 13 "Finders Keepers" Gregory Lehane Brian McConnachie "Double Trouble""James in a Mess" "The Desperado""Tubby the Tuba" (excerpt) April 23, 1989 14 "Just Wild About Harry's Workshop" Ellis Weiner "Duck Takes Charge""Percy Proves a Point" "Union Train""What Goes Around Comes Around" April 30, 1989 15 "Promises, Promises" "Better Late Than Never""Pop Goes the Diesel" "Oh! Susanna" May 7, 1989 16 "Word's Out" Brian McConnachie "Diesel's Devious Deed""A Close Shave for Duck" "Jesse James""Be Good to Yourself" May 14, 1989 17 "Too Many Cooks" Ellis Weiner "Gordon Takes a Dip""Down the Mine" "The Ballad of Casey Jones" May 21, 1989 18 "Mapping It Out" "The Runaway""Percy Takes the Plunge" "Red River Valley""Follow Directions" May 28, 1989 19 "Things That Go Ga-Hooga in the Night" Brian McConnachie "Percy's Ghostly Trick""Woolly Bear" "Oh My Darling, Clementine" June 4, 1989 20 "Is This the End?" "Saved from Scrap""A New Friend for Thomas" "Little Black Train" June 11, 1989 21 Special Tis a Gift" TV: "Terence the Tractor""Thomas' Christmas Party"VHS: "Thomas' Christmas Party""Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree" "Over the River and Through the Wood""Jingle Bells""It's Christmastime at the Railway Station""The Hobo Song""Simple Gifts" November 25, 1990
Season 2 (1991)