And the Band Played Off

And the Band Played Off is the 3rd episode of "Shining Time Station."

Summary
The episode begins with the phone ringing at the empty lobby of the station. Mr. Conductor answers and the voice on the other end asks to speak to Stacy. Mr. Conductor says she is unavailable and asks to take a message. The message is from the Indian Valley Railroad main office; a new train, the local from Leaky Park, will begin stopping at Shining Time Station that day. Just then, Stacy comes in and Mr. Conductor lets her take over the phone call. When Stacy hears the news, she is excited and so are Matt, Tanya and Harry. Stacy assures the caller she will not get the schedule wrong and listens as the new timetable is dictated to her. Mr. Conductor asks if she wants to write the schedule down, but Stacy indicates she can remember it.

Stacy looks at her watch. The new train is due in an hour. Stacy realizes that the timetable has to be posted on the new schedule board, which hasn’t been put up yet. She opens a cardboard box and but instead of the board, music comes out. That gives her an idea: a band to play music when the new train arrives to entertain the passengers and make them feel welcome.

Mr. Conductor then reappears and says what Stacy ought to do is post the new schedule. He also asks what happened to the station’s regular train. As Stacy tries to remember how the schedules of the two trains coordinate with each other, she begins to see her memory isn't as good as she thought and runs off to re-collect her thoughts. Mr. Conductor tells the children that mistakes can happen when one is impatient. To illustrate his point, he tells them about the time Thomas got impatient when pulling his first passenger train.

After the story, he leaves to go to a mountain climbing lesson.

A passenger comes into the station and asks Stacy what time the regular train to Mount Careful departs. Stacy, thinking from the top of her head, says it leaves 20 minutes before the hour. The passenger asks for a one-way ticket and quickly leaves. Harry brings out the schedule board from his workshop and Stacy quickly tries to arrange the schedule information from memory. However, she keeps forgetting and worrying about getting it wrong. Then Mr. Conductor, still in his mountain climbing gear, hands Stacy a note. He had written the schedule information down himself while Stacy was on the phone.

Stacy is very grateful, but needs a magnifying glass to read Mr. Conductor’s tiny notes. She then asks the kids if they ever looked at their hands through a magnifying glass. They examine the small details of their hands and faces with the glass before Stacy sends the kids over to the arcade while she works on the schedule board. The kids drop a nickel in the jukebox. Inside, the Puppet Band has some trouble remembering which song is which on their repertoire before playing "She'll Be Comin' 'Round The Mountain." When the song finishes, the kids find a nickel on the floor. They presume that Schemer dropped it while collecting his money from the machines. They drop it in the Picture Machine and it plays a movie about learning from your mistakes.

By the time the movie ends, Stacy has successfully assembled the schedule from Mr. Conductor's notes. Schemer and the passenger from before re-enter, and look at the schedule board. Finding it contradicts the information Stacy gave earlier, the passenger demands an explanation. Stacy attempts to give him one, but Schemer interrupts, claiming that since Stacy gave out wrong information, the passenger will miss his appointment. Schemer, suggesting perhaps he should be in charge of the station, encourages the passenger to report Stacy to the railroad and escorts him away to do so.

In Harry’s workshop, Matt and Tanya have seen everything and want to do something to help. Harry explains that Stacy cares so much about the station, she simply got carried away when the good news about the train came in. Deciding to do something to cheer Stacy up, Tanya mentions Stacy's earlier idea of having a band meet the new train. Harry latches on to the idea, and together they create makeshift musical instruments out of various objects around the workshop.

The kids show their musical instruments to Mr. Conductor. Matt comments that they are not as good as store-bought musical instruments, but Mr. Conductor says they just need the right rhythm. He directs the kids' attention to the Anything Tunnel, which shows how a musician can make music out of anything with just a pair of drumsticks. Mr. Conductor also points out that we are all born with our own instruments -- our voices.

After the story, Mr. Conductor vanishes and reappears on the ticket counter, and listens to Stacy's side of the incident with the passenger. Mr. Conductor comments that people sometimes get impatient and complain, as do engines. He them tells the story about how Thomas’ complaining and impatience nearly got him into trouble when he pulled his first freight train.

Mr. Conductor disappears as Harry comes out of his workshop and asks Stacy if she put the schedule together from memory. She admits she had help from Mr. Conductor. Harry asks who he is and Matt says he’s the little man who lives in the wall. Harry laughs in disbelief. The passenger then comes back and takes a closer look at the schedule. When Stacy confirms that it is correct this time, he happily says he won't be late at all. He then sees the kids and asks about their instruments. Matt and Tanya explain that they're playing music when the new train arrives. The passenger asks if he can join, and when the kids say yes, the passenger returns wearing an assortment of musical instruments and starts playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” The Jukebox Band overhears the music and Tito says what they’re hearing is a one-man band. The passenger explains that he is the only participant in a one-man-band convention at Mount Careful and apologizes for being upset with Stacy earlier.

At that moment, Harry announces the arrival of the new train. Accompanied by the Jukebox Band, the one-man band plays his way out to the platform, followed by Matt, Tanya and Stacy. Harry stays behind in the station and as the new train departs, Harry finds a tiny piece of paper on the bench next to him. He once again questions the existence of a little guy who lives in the wall and laughs to himself, while Mr. Conductor appears behind his back.

Train Stories

 * Thomas's Train
 * Thomas and the Trucks