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Shining Time Station (television series)

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This article is about the television series. You may be looking for the station.
"Shining Time is the moment the engine builds up steam and the wheels begin to shine on the track."
— Britt Allcroft in 1993

Shining Time Station is an American-Canadian children's television series created by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. It aired from January 29, 1989 to June 11, 1993. Four specials (otherwise known as the Family Specials) also followed in 1995.

Cast

Regulars (Whole Series)

First season regulars

Christmas Special characters

Second and third seasons regulars

Recurring characters

Family Specials characters

The Jukebox Puppet Band

Broadcast History

  • PBS (1989-1997)
  • Fox Family (1998-1999)
  • Nick Jr. (Nickelodeon) (2000)

NOTES: Nick Jr. only aired Seasons 2 and 3 of the show while Fox Family aired Tis A Gift albeit heavily edited and using Kevin Roth's own version of the theme edited for the intro and then using the entire version for the ending.

Behind the Scenes

  • Shining Time Station was created to introduce Thomas the Tank Engine to American audiences.
  • Kevin Roth sang the theme song played during the opening and closing credits which he later rerecorded.
  • Except for the Christmas special, the footage of the Rainbow Sun seen in the opening and closing credits was reused from the 1981 movie, Eighty Four Forty Four.
  • All of the Shining Time Station episodes only ever had three sets: the main room of the station, the workshop, and the interior of the station's jukebox where the Jukebox Band resided. This changed in the specials, in which scenes took place outside, in the signal house, and in a large basement-type room that may or may not be part of the station building. In Schemer Presents!, a fourth set was made. This is believed to be either Schemer's house or his room.
  • Didi, the female drummer of the Jukebox Band, is shown to have a crush on Mr. Conductor. Mr. Conductor learns about this in "One in the Family" and they apparently begin to date.
  • Mr. Conductor has various forms of his magic gold dust, including some for teleportation, forgetfulness, love, sleep and pranks. It also has life-giving qualities and can make inanimate objects come alive. His whistle also has some magic and is used to start a Thomas story by means of blowing.
  • In the specials, Mr. Conductor shows that he can appear and interact with the Jukebox Band Characters.
  • Also in the specials, Mr. Conductor has a nametag on his uniform.
  • Whistles and Sneezes and most episodes of Season 2 are the only episodes that were never narrated by Ringo Starr in the US. The US Ringo Starr narrations of these remaining episodes were planned but cancelled due to Ringo Starr leaving the series after 1990 to focus on his music career and tour with The All Starr Band, though he often praises his work on the show.
  • In the episode, Washout, when Mr. Conductor tells the story, Bertie's Chase, the beginning (Edward waiting for Thomas) was omitted. This scene was also omitted from the James in a Mess picture book. But in the Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales episode, Splish, Splash, Splosh, and in all VHS and DVD releases, the episode is in its entirety.
  • The show aired on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block in the summer of 2000 to promote Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
  • When the show aired on Fox Family, it used the credits from the television specials but episodes were edited significantly so they could fit the time slot, and even though the series originally aired on PBS, the Fox Family airings added commercial interruptions as well.
  • The Indian Valley Railroad (where the station is located) is an actual defunct short line in California. It was constructed to serve the Engels Copper Mine, the largest copper mine in California and was a branch connection of The Union Pacific Railroad at Paxton, California. Indian Valley is where the mine was located.
  • Throughout the series, entire episodes (and at one point, an entire season) were knocked out of continuity due to flashbacks from later episodes. For example, the episode, "How the Station Got its Name" changed the continuity of the entire first season.
  • On the Thomas VHS tapes from "Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Stories" to "Better Late Than Never and Other Stories," the Thomas stories featured on the tapes were in order from their Shining Time Station air dates from the first season, all the tapes including the first ones always advertised "As Seen on Shining Time Station" some copies even including the Shining Time Station Sun on the top right corner it was then stopped after the release of "James Goes Buzz Buzz and Other Thomas Stories" when the show ended the previous year, later prints of the VHS covers from Thomas Gets Tricked to James Goes Buzz Buzz would take out these advertisements.
  • When George Carlin assumed the role of Mr. Conductor in the second season, all Thomas stories from the first and second seasons were re-dubbed by him, although not all of them aired on the show.
  • Restored clips from Shining Time Station could be seen at the Explore the Rails traveling exhibit.
  • After Shining Time Station's production ending, the fate of most of the props are unknown. The Jukebox was also featured in the Canadian children's TV series, "The Doodlebops."
  • According to Britt Allcroft, she and Rick Siggelkow started trying to work on releasing Shining Time Station onto DVD in the early 2010s. However, no other news has been announced since then, so it is currently unknown if the DVD project will be completed.

Seasons, Specials and Spinoffs

Crew

Directors

Producers

Episode Writers

Gallery

External Links

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