''Shining Time Station'' is a

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

jointly created by British television producer

Britt Allcroft Britt Allcroft (born Hilary Mary Allcroft Coote; 14 December 1943 - 25 December 2024) was an English screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actress. She adapted Wilbert Awdry's ''The Railway Series'' in the form of the children's television ...

and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment (the American branch of

The Britt Allcroft Company Gullane Entertainment Limited was a British independent production company which produced children's programming, including ''Thomas & Friends'' (1984–2021), '' Shining Time Station'' (1989–1995), '' The Magic Adventures of Mumfie'' (1994– ...

), in association with Catalyst Entertainment in seasons 2 and 3, for New York City's PBS station

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...

, and was originally taped in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

during its first season and in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

during the rest of its run. It incorporated sequences from the British television show ''

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Brit ...

'', which was in turn based on the books of ''

The Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Sodor (fictional island), Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by Wi ...

'' written by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry. The series aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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 ''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; the cast includes Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson, Didi Conn, Russell Mean ...

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

as Mr. Conductor,

Didi Conn Edith "Didi" Conn (née Bernstein; born July 13, 1951) is an American actress. She is best known for her work as Frenchy in '' Grease'', Denise Stevens Downey in '' Benson'' and Stacy Jones in '' Shining Time Station''. Early life Edith Bernst ...

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 George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercultur ...

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 ''

'' 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

, 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

. ''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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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

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 *

as Mr. Conductor (season 1, Christmas special), a 20-centimetre tall conductor with a magic whistle that helps him teleport away *

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 Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

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 Jack Klugman (April 27, 1922 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He began his career in 1949 and started television and film work with roles in ''12 Angry Men (1957 film), 12 Angry Men'' (1957) and ...

as Max Okowsky ("Second Chances") *

Teri Garr Terry Ann Garr (December 11, 1944 – October 29, 2024), known as Teri Garr, was an American actress. Known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s, she often played women struggling to cope with the life-changing ex ...

as Sister Conductor ("One of the Family") *

Jeannette Charles Jeannette Dorothea Louise Charles (née Clark; 15 October 1927 – 2 June 2024) was a British actress noted for her portrayals of Queen Elizabeth II, branding her "the Queen's most famous lookalike". Background Jeannette Clark was born in Maryl ...

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 (1990–1995) as Tex, a guitarist * Craig Marin as Rex, a guitarist * Peter Baird (puppeteer, 1989–95), Alan Semok (puppeteer, 1989), Kenny Miele (puppeteer, 1990–95), and Vaneese Thomas (voice) as Grace, the bassist 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 Freeman.

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 Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

special "'Tis A Gift", the footage used for the opening and closing sequences was filmed at the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

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. * ''

'' – 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)

Christmas Special (1990)

Season 2 (1991)

Season 3 (1993)

Family Specials (1995)

''Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales'' (1996)

Merchandise

VHS

Most VHS releases (the exceptions being Tis a Gift", "Shining Time Station Singsongs", "Schemer Presents: The World According to Me", and the two Jukebox Band videos) featured new wraparounds, presenting the episode as the main feature at the "Shining Time Drive-In Movie Theater", complete with in-universe commercials. These videos also featured "Schemer Presents!", bonus educational sketches starring Schemer, following the episode. The model drive-in scenes are sampled from the art film
Easy Living
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"

Book

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

Music

Four cassettes were released featuring music from the series performed by the Jukebox Band: * ''Sleepytime Singsongs'' (1993) * ''Rainy Day Singsongs'' (1993) * ''Rise and Shine Singsongs'' (1994) * ''Birthday Party Singsongs'' (1994) All four featured dialogue linking the songs, including in-universe ads.