Shining Time Station

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!

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!

For me, I really liked Shining Time Station. I liked it they have both Ringo Starr and George Carlin as Mr. Conductor. I did like Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor, I like it every time he appear and disappear. But, when George Carlin was Mr. Conductor I really like him, he was my favorite. I really liked the kids on the show my favorites were Dan, Kara, Becky, Matt, and Tanya after all they all were cousins on the show. I saw an episode when they had all 5 kids on there, it was when the kids wanted to play baseball and Scheemer was their coach, it was funny. I even saw the first episode of the second season, when it was Halloween and the characters Dan, Kara, Becky, Mr. Conductor played by George Carlin and Billy Twofeathers was introduced, Matt and Tanya was on their too. I wish that Shining Time Station was back on the air so families everywhere can watch it with their kids.

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.

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.