''Shining Time Station'' is an American 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, 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. It aired on Fox Family from 1998 to 1999. Reruns of the show aired on Nick Jr. to promote the theatrical release of ''

Thomas and the Magic Railroad ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' is a 2000 children's fantasy adventure film written and directed by Britt Allcroft and produced by Allcroft and Phil Fehrle. It is the only theatrical live-action/animated ''Thomas & Friends'' film in the franc ...

'' beginning June 5, 2000, and continuing until August 11 that same year, when it was replaced by '' Dora the Explorer'' beginning the following Monday. The series also aired on Canadian television networks such as APTN and

SCN SCN may stand for: Science and technology *Switched circuit network, i.e. the public switched telephone network *Server change number, a counter variable used in client-server architecture *System change number, a stamp that defines a committed ...

. Elements from the show were incorporated into the 2000 Thomas and Friends film ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad''. The initial 1989 season featured a cast that included

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

as Mr. Conductor, Didi Conn as Stacy Jones, Brian O'Connor as Horace Schemer, Leonard Jackson as Harry Cupper,

Jason Woliner Jason Woliner is an American director, writer and a former child actor who directed the 2020 movie '' Borat Subsequent Moviefilm''. He was the non-performing member of the comedy group Human Giant and directed the bulk of their output. After th ...

as Matt Jones and

Nicole Leach Nicolle Rochelle (born May 10, 1979), often credited professionally as Nicole Leach, is an American actress, dancer, and jazz singer, best known for her appearances on television including ''Shining Time Station'', '' The Babysitters Club'', a ...

as Tanya Cupper. 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 Ari Joseph Magder (May 3, 1983 – April 27, 2012) was a Canadian-born American actor best known for ''Shining Time Station'' (1989), ''Rugged Gold'' (1994) and ''Woman on Trial: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story'' (1993, about Laurie Bembenek, starri ...

, Danielle Marcot, and

Tom Jackson Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

joined the primary cast in newly created roles. In addition to the three main seasons, a Christmas special featuring the original cast, aired in 1990, and four "family specials" aired in 1995 featuring the second cast. Providing the musical numbers for the show was "The Jukebox Band", a group of puppets. In 1996, only 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

, George Carlin, Didi Conn, Brian O'Connor, and the Flexitoon Puppets.

, 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. ''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 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 a magic bubble to the kids 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

Series regulars (1989–1995)

* Didi Conn – Stacy Jones * Brian O'Connor – Horace Schemer

Season 1 regulars (1989)

– Mr. Conductor * Leonard Jackson – Henry "Harry" Cupper *

– Matthew "Matt" Jones *

– Tanya Cupper

Christmas Special characters (1990)

– Mr. Conductor * Didi Conn – Stacy Jones * Brian O'Connor – Horace Schemer *

– Matthew "Matt" Jones *

– Tanya Cupper * Ardon Bess – Tucker Cooper (Harry's cousin) * Lloyd Bridges – Mr. Nicholas * Judy Marshak – Claire * Rachel Miner – Vickie

Seasons 2 & 3 regulars (1991–1993)

* George Carlin – Mr. Conductor * Erica Luttrell – Kara Cupper *

– Daniel "Dan" Jones * Danielle Marcot – Becky (recurring in season 2) *

– Billy Twofeathers

Recurring characters (full series; 1989–1995)

* Jerome Dempsey – Mayor Osgood Bob Flopdinger * Mart Hulswit – Mr. J.B. King, Esq. *

Bobo Lewis Barbara "Bobo" Lewis (May 14, 1926 – November 6, 1998) was an American comedic actress of film, musical theatre, stage and television. Born in Miami, Florida, Lewis studied acting and won a Drama Desk Award in 1978 for portraying a teacher ...

– Midge Smoot

Recurring characters (Seasons 2 & 3; 1991–1993)

– Matthew "Matt" Jones (Season 2 only) *

– Tanya Cupper (Season 2 only) * Jonathan Shapiro – Schemee * Gerard Parkes – Barton Winslow * Barbara Hamilton – Ginny Johnson * Aurelio Padrón – Felix Perez * George Carlin – Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin

1995 Family Specials characters

* George Carlin – Mr. Conductor * Didi Conn – Stacy Jones *

– Billy Twofeathers (All but ''Queen for a Day'') * Erica Luttrell – Kara Cupper *

– Daniel "Dan" Jones (''Once Upon a Time'' and ''Second Chances'') * Danielle Marcot – Becky * Brian Edward O'Connor – Horace Schemer * Barbara Hamilton – Ginny Johnson *

– Midge Smoot * Jerome Dempsey – Mayor Osgood Bob Flopdinger (''Once Upon a Time'' only) * Mart Hulswit – Mr. J.B. King, Esq. * Bucky Hill – Kit Twofeathers (All but ''Once Upon a Time'') *

Jonathan Shapiro Jonathan Shapiro (born 27 October 1958) is a South African cartoonist, known as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions. He is the nephew of British magician ...

– Schemee (''Second Chances'' and ''One of the Family'') * Aurelio Pardón – Felix Perez (''Second Chances'' and ''Queen for a Day'') * Leonard Jackson – Henry "Harry" Cupper (''One of the Family'' only) * Teri Garr – Sister Conductor (''One of the Family'' only) *

Jeannette Charles Jeannette Charles (born 15 October 1927) is a retired British actress who has often portrayed Queen Elizabeth II due to her resemblance to the monarch. Biography Charles appeared as an actress in repertory theatre in her twenties, but had diffi ...

– The Queen (''Queen for a Day'' only)

The Jukebox Band

* Steve Horelick – Composer and Music Producer * Jonathan Freeman – Tito Swing The Piano Man * Olga Marin – Didi The Drummer * Wayne White – Tex The Guitarist (1989) * Alan Semok – Tex The Guitarist (1990–1995) * Craig Marin – Rex The Guitarist * Peter Baird/Alan Semok/ Vaneese Thomas – Grace The Bass Player (1989) * Peter Baird/Kenny Miele – Grace The Bass Player (1990–1995) The songs were arranged and performed by Steve Horelick with Larry Wolf. They featured vocal performances by Rory Dodd, Vaneese Thomas, Emily Bindinger and Jonathan Freemen.

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 were 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 anything tunnel, which is the tunnel on the station mural, there is a song with a cartoon, a stop motion clip, or a live action clip. Sometimes instead of the anything tunnel, Mr. Conductor would show a magic bubble or one of the kids looks through a film viewer.

Episodes

Merchandise

VHS

The beginning of each VHS release (except for ''Tis a Gift'', ''Shining Time Station Singsongs'', ''Schemer Presents: The World According to Me'', ''The Jukebox Band: A Day in the Life'', and ''The Jukebox Band: Lullaby'') featured a model scale of a typical 1950s drive-in movie theater called the "Shining Time Drive-In Movie Theater" with parody commercials before the episode started. Then, after the episode of ''Shining Time Station'' was shown, a short segment known as "

Schemer Presents! A scheme is a systematic plan for the implementation of a certain idea. Scheme or schemer may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''The Scheme'' (TV series), a BBC Scotland documentary series * The Scheme (band), an English pop band * ''The Scheme ...

" was shown. Each segment featured Schemer teaching the viewers how to do something, with one of the other regular characters helping him. Afterwards, the announcer wishes everyone a safe drive home. The Drive-In segments were created by Chip Lord & Mickey McGowan. * ''Tis a Gift'' * ''Sweet and Sour'' * ''Stacy Cleans Up'' * ''Schemer Alone'' * ''Bully for Mr. Conductor'' * ''Becky Makes a Wish'' * ''Billy's Party'' * ''Schemer's Special Club'' * ''Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin'' * ''Shining Time Station Singsongs'' * ''Schemer Presents: The World According to Me'' * ''The Jukebox Band: A Day in the Life'' * ''The Jukebox Band: Lullaby''

Books

* A book, titled ''This Old Band'', was written by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. It featured the Juke Box Band and was published by Quality Family Entertainment in 1994.