- "There's always a Mr. Conductor living here, or else it wouldn't be Shining Time Station."
- — Tanya Cupper (Scare Dares) (second season)
Mr. Conductor is the ever cheerful, 18-inch-tall conductor who regularly visits the Island of Sodor.
To date, there have been three characters named Mr. Conductor who have lived at Shining Time Station.
Bio
1st
The 1st Mr. Conductor was portrayed by former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr during the 1st season as well as the TV special "'Tis a Gift". He was initially very wary about newcomers, but gradually decided to reveal himself to Matt, Tanya, Stacy, and Harry. He provided a voice of reason to Matt and Tanya, introducing them to stories about Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends to show them a way to solve a problem the two friends encountered. It was thanks to him leaving his hat behind when he temporarily left the station during "Is This the End?" that J.B. King realized how important Shining Time Station was to his childhood friend, deciding in the end to leave the station open.
Following the events of "'Tis a Gift", Mr. Conductor decided to leave Shining Time Station to assist Mr. Nicholas at the North Pole.
2nd
When the 2nd season began, the 2nd Mr. Conductor (portrayed by comedian George Carlin) (a cousin of the 1st Mr. Conductor) arrived at the station to take the 1st one's place as there's always a Mr. Conductor living in Shining Time Station. The 2nd Mr. Conductor was as friendly and wise as his cousin, also using stories about Thomas and his friends to provide a lesson for Dan, Kara and Becky. Easily more fun loving and laid back than his cousin, Mr. Conductor usually appeared in many other outfits than his usual conductor's uniform. He was also armed with several forms of gold dust (as well as the wishing star. He also has a habit of playing tricks on Schemer on occasion).
3rd
The 3rd Mr. Conductor (portrayed by actor Alec Baldwin) lived at the station during the events of Thomas and the Magic Railroad (which delved further into the sources of his family's magic gold dust and just how important that magic was to the smooth running of both Shining Time Station and Sodor) it is never specified if this Mr. Conductor was related to the other two like how George Carlin's Mr. Conductor is Ringo Starr's Mr. Conductor's cousin.
Family
There are also three other known members of the Conductor family: Sister Conductor is the sister of the 2nd Mr. Conductor and has a love for airplanes, making her different from the rest of the family. She appears in One of the Family. The 2nd is the 2nd Mr. C's aunt (Lily Conductor). The 3rd is Mr. Conductor, Junior who is another cousin. He appears in Thomas and the Magic Railroad. Junior enjoys relaxing and pulling pranks, but often gets into trouble. The 2nd Mr. Conductor also has an evil twin though he's mostly a drawing brought to life.
Appearances
A Mr. Conductor has appeared in every episode of the series (all four Family Specials, Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales and Thomas and the Magic Railroad).
Trivia
- The 1st Mr. Conductor's Indian Valley Railroad badge number is 771, and has demonstrated himself to be quite talented with a pair of drumsticks!
- This is a reference to the fact that his actor (Ringo Starr) was the drummer for the British rock and roll band (the Beatles).
- The 1st Mr. Conductor is the only incarnation to be written out of the series onscreen.
- The 2nd Mr. Conductor's Indian Valley Railroad badge number is 233.
- The 2nd Mr. Conductor was the most seen in the 2nd and 3rd seasons, since George Carlin re-narrated the 1st and 2nd seasons of Thomas and narrated the 3rd and 4th for the United States.
- The 3rd Mr. Conductor's Indian Valley Railroad badge number in 128.
- The 3rd Mr. Conductor is the only Mr. Conductor to be completely clean shaven unless you count Junior.
- The 3rd Mr. Conductor was only used in Thomas and the Magic Railroad. Alec Baldwin did narrate the 5th and 6th seasons of Thomas and Friends, but his Mr. Conductor was never used in Shining Time Station (due to the series' cancellation in 1995).
- In the Latin American dub of Shining Time Station, Ringo Starr and George Carlin's Mr. Conductor's were both voiced by Pedro D'Aguillón Jr. (who also dubbed Mr. Perkins in Thomas and Friends).
- In the Japanese dub of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, his voice was dubbed by Masashi Ebara, and in the Spanish dub, he was voiced by Alejandro Vargas Lugo (theatrical dub) and Salvador Najar (TV dub), Thomas Fritsch in the German dub and Dvir Benedek in the Hebrew dub.
- Michael Brandon was the only US narrator of the Classic Series of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends who never portrayed Mr. Conductor mostly because the original Shining Time Station television show had long since ended by this point.
- The whistles each incarnation used for the Thomas story segments varied through both the series and the movie:
- The 1st Mr. Conductor's whistle was like a normal high pitched whistle (although sometimes he used other ways to tell his stories either weeping in tears, tapping spoons like drumsticks, spinning a present, having a cup of tea, or sitting down). In one case, he blew his whistle in morse code.
- The 2nd Mr. Conductor's whistle has a pitch similar to a real steam locomotive whistle. It sometimes goes out of tune giving a quite lower pitch than normal. It was toned down slightly in the Family Specials and Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales.
- In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, the 3rd Mr. Conductor's whistle is a normal high pitched whistle, much like the 1st incarnation. However (instead of using it to start Thomas stories like in the original series), it is now used to make him disappear and reappear rather than at will, compared to the two previous incarnations.
- Mr. Conductor's uniform regularly gains more details during the actor changeovers:
- Ringo Starr's Mr. Conductor had an all-blue uniform with golden jacket buttons and a matching cap plate. He also wore a black necktie and white dress shirt underneath the jacket.
- George Carlin's Mr. Conductor had the same trousers, shoes and undershirt, but his jacket now has red cuffs and the pockets and cuffs now had gold trim. The cap also had a red band and the collar and necktie now red, with the side pockets being red with gold trim. The uniform is also a darker shade of blue that Ringo Starr's Mr. Conductor.
- Alec Baldwin's Mr. Conductor has the same uniform as George Carlin's, but the hat band, collar and cuffs are expanded, while the gold is less reflective. Baldwin's Mr. Conductor also wore a brighter shade of blue than either Starr's or Carlin's, being close to that of a sapphire.
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