Shining Time Station

I loved watching Shining Time Station on PBS when I was really little. It is a shame that they eventually took it off of the air. It was educational, funny, and fun to watch. It taught kids, like me, about important lessons in life. I miss that show so much. I can still hear the theme song when I am in a quiet place and I think back to those good old days. I wish they would bring it back. It meant so much me and many, many others. I hope that someday soon they either bring it back on TV or they release the original episodes on VHS and DVD, the way they were shown on TV when they originally aired. Please, bring it back!

I was born 1986, so my memories of the early 1990s are obviously not my clearest, but I do have many positive memories from that time, including memories of various TV shows. "Shining Time Station" is one of the TV shows I remember from the first half of that decade. I remember watching it regularly for a while, seeing it just before "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" came on. I must have seen reruns of the early '90s kids' programme after its demise as well, because I can recall definitely seeing it after 1993.

The show was set in a train station called Shining Time Station (hence its title). Main characters included Stacy Jones (the station master), Billy Twofeathers (the railroad engineer), and Schemer (the buffoon who owned the station arcade). In Schemer's arcade was a juke box with puppet singers/musicians inside. There were also kids in the show named Becky, Kara, and Dan, who regularly talked to Mr. Conductor, an 18'' inch man who would tell them stories of Thomas the Tank Engine (with sequences using characters from "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends") and teach them lessons. With all the trouble taking place at Shining Time Station, there were many life lessons to be learned.

Like most kids' shows of this kind, "Shining Time Station" was educational. The lessons that the characters learned could be taught to the young viewers of the show. To entertain its viewers, the show had adventure, humour, good quality characters, songs performed by the puppets in the juke box, etc. A major highlight of the show was Schemer, a character who was responsible for a lot of the humour in the show. He could really annoy other characters, but could also sure give viewers some good laughs!

I guess I didn't catch the show right from the beginning, as I cannot remember the Harry Cupper character (the original engineer who was replaced by Billy Twofeathers in Season 2), nor can I remember Ringo Starr (a former narrator for "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends", and best known as the drummer for The Beatles in the 1960s) playing Mr. Conductor (he was replaced in the role by George Carlin in Season 2). So, I guess it's clear that I missed Season 1, but of all those shows I saw way back, I probably didn't see every episode of many of them, if any. I may have seen more of other shows than "Shining Time Station", but this show has still left me with positive (and permanent) memories, and I know many others who watched the show in their childhood can say the same!

When I was very little I remember going to my grandparents house for a visit often. I can remember very clearly watching "Shining Time Station" on there TV in the mornings. There was Barney, and Sesame Street but I clearly remember watching "STS". I couldn't believe it when it came off the air. I guess my kids will never have the same experience that I had from watching Thomas the Tank engine and all his friends and Mr. Conductor and his little whistle. The stories that Mr. C. told were a lot of fun to listen to. I really miss it and if you have any information on were I can buy "STS" videos anywhere than that would be wonderful. Go ahead and E-mail me.

(zcst) Esti H.

Although the Thomas The Tank Engine stories are good, I've always loved this PBS series, Shining Time Station, even more growing up on it. And it was through this show how I learned and got to know of them. I always found what took place in the station even more interesting. I like how the Thomas stories told by either of the Mr. Conductors (whether portrayed by Ringo Starr or George Carlin) to the handful of kids who visited there, were included in the show, that was a nice touch of how it all came together. This aspect of the show is similar to what was done in the late '90s Noddy series, I noticed this for those who may not have seen that show and for your info, and I wonder if those who have seen that other show noticed that, and pointed it out too. And as in Noddy, the stories that were recounted here pertained to whatever the episode's theme or subject matter was. What's there to complain and not like about this show? It is what I'd like to consider one of the perfect kid shows, not just better, and it gets my vote to be on the most outstanding kid shows of all time list. It's just pure gold.

Aside from the aforementioned two Mr. Conductors (who were small, could appear and vanish magically at will, and weren't known of by many but the handful of kids, who I don't remember any of them being cousins to one another as another reviewer mentioned), there were also the station master Stacy (who I think also may have known about the Mr. Conductors), who might have been related to some of the kids; Schemer, who loved money so much that, if I recollect exactly, he was always trying to come up with and plot ways (as his self-explanatory name implies) to get rich quickly, almost like a true con artist or scam artist; the Flexitoon Puppets who consisted of a band and lived in a jukebox (and it was they who played the music whenever a nickel was dropped into the coin slot, and a track was selected), and more. If anyone reading my review has never seen Shining Time Station, I say check it out, because everything about it, from the story lines to the characters, is great. With morals or lessons that were done the right way, I pick and consider this to be both a keeper and a winner for sure.

The Shining Time Station is a great series for kids. It showcases what is good in the world of trains and teaching lessons that are good for them. Also, the show can be funny at times. But of course, what brings the show to be one of the best is the acting by George Carlin as Mr. Conductor (he received a Emmy nomination for it). Entertaining and enlightening throughout.