| abstract | - It takes place during Christmas at Shining Time Station. The scene opens with Mr. Conductor (Ringo Starr) with an axe over one shoulder, dragging a miniature evergreen along the top of a bench heading towards his home. The station is filled with people trying to catch trains to take them to see their families. Even Schemer (Brian O'Connor) is in a good mood, because the Indian Valley committee is putting on a Christmas pageant and he is almost certain to get the part of Santa's helper. The kids, Matt (Jason Woliner) and Tanya (Nicole Leach), write letters to Santa Claus and Mr. Conductor sends them on their way. Then, he once more tells the kids the story of the time Thomas met Terence, shown in the episode "Thomas, Terence, and the Snow". In the story, Thomas meets a friendly tractor named Terence and mocks his use of his caterpillars. Winter soon arrives, and Thomas is forced to wear an uncomfortable snowplow. He bangs it so much that by the end of the day it's too damaged to use again. The next day he continues his work without it, much to his delight. Unfortunately, he quickly comes across a snowdrift and crashes right into it, ending up trapped in it. Instantly he begins to regret breaking his snowplow. Bertie arrives to take Thomas' passengers and Terence comes to the rescue, taking Annie and Clarabel away before rescuing Thomas from the snow. A grateful Thomas thanks Terence and apologizes for mocking him earlier. An old man, Mr. Nicholas (Lloyd Bridges), enters the station carrying a Christmas tree with Harry's cousin, Tucker Cupper (Ardon Bess), and immediately knows everything about Stacy Jones (Didi Conn) from when she was a little girl. He says he is there to catch the Northern Star, a train that doesn't run on that railway, but he is confident it will come. Meanwhile, Stacy agrees to watch Claire's (Judy Marshak) daughter, Vickie (Rachel Miner), a bratty little girl, at the station. Matt and Tanya dislike her because of her attitude. She meets Mr. Nicholas who teaches her to be nice to people and it soon begins to work; Schemer's mom has made him a Santa's helper costume and he begins his campaign against Stacy by telling Midge Smoot (Bobo Lewis), J.B. King (Mart Hulswit), and the Mayor (Jerome Dempsey) untrue things about her. Mr. Conductor tells the kids another story from the Island of Sodor - "Thomas' Christmas Party". After the story, Mr. Nicholas (actually Santa Claus) is still waiting for the Northern Star. To everyone's surprise, it pulls into the station as he had predicted. Meanwhile, the fighting continues over who will play the part of Santa's helper. Mr. Nicholas encourages Vickie to use her gift of song to quell the conflict. Her singing of the 1848 Shaker song "Simple Gifts" reminds them all of the true spirit of Christmas. Harmony is restored as all gather around the tree to celebrate the power of believing. The second season casting change from Starr to George Carlin as Mr. Conductor would be explained by Starr's character having left the station to go with Mr. Nicholas to the North Pole. While there is a brief encounter at the end of this episode between them, nothing in the story actually mentions Mr. Conductor's departure. The snowy winter footage used for the opening and closing sequences was filmed at the Grand Canyon Railway between Williams, Arizona and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The final filmed scene of the title sequence shows the train pulling into the former Santa Fe Railway station at Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. The historic Bright Angel Lodge and El Tovar Hotel are in the background nearby. The steam locomotive shown is #18, a 2-8-0 type. It appears again during the third musical number, "It's Christmastime at the Railway Station" and also contributes the sound of its whistle, a Southern Pacific six-chime, for Mr. Nicholas's heard-but-not-seen "Northern Star." It now resides at the Mount Hood Railroad in Oregon.
- It is the Christmas holidays at Shining Time Station, and the place is bustling with activity as people are rushing to catch trains to take them to see their families. Even Schemer is in a good mood, as he reveals to the kids, Matt and Tanya, that the Indian Valley Christmas Committee is putting on a Christmas pageant and will pick one lucky contestant to play the role of Santa's Helper. Schemer is confident that he will get the role. J.B. King, the superintendent of the Indian Valley Railroad, arrives at the station and meets a new engineer, who introduces himself as Harry's cousin, Tucker Cooper. He has come to help out following Harry's transfer to Twiddly Junction. Mr. King welcomes Tucker to Shining Time Station and asks if he's met Mr. Conductor. Tucker had not, and is a bit skeptical due to Mr. King's description. Stacy tells the kids that Christmas is her favorite time of the year because the sight of the passengers hurrying through the station shows everyone's desire to get together for the holidays. When the kids mention having nothing to do, Stacy suggests that they write letters to Santa Claus, which they do to the accompaniment of some music performed by the Jukebox Puppets. Having finished their letters, the kids take them to Stacy to find how to address them to Santa, but Mayor Flopdinger rushes in to inform Stacy that the Christmas Committee has no place to meet that night, so they've decided to hold the meeting to elect Santa's Helper at Shining Time Station, much to her frustration. The kids still don't know Santa Claus' exact address, but fortunately they are aided to Mr. Conductor, who has written to Santa before. He suggests the kids to go outside and build a snowman to pass the time waiting for Santa, and they begin to go outside with only their coats on, claiming that they don't need their hats and mittens. Mr. Conductor then tells them a story of how Thomas the Tank Engine once felt the same way about his snow plow. Having finished his story, Mr. Conductor tells Matt and Tanya everyone has something special to offer the world, but they don't always know it. He then magically sends off their letters and disappears. The kids then overhear that Vickie, a bratty local girl, will be spending the afternoon at the station with them. The both protest, knowing that Vickie is difficult to get along with, but Stacy encourages them to try to be nice to her and think of her good traits. Tanya notes that Vickie does have a good singing voice. Meanwhile, Schemer is binge eating, as he hopes to be fat enough to look the part for Santa's Helper. He also reveals his own costume for the role with an advertisement that reads "Santa says: Give Your Money to Schemer!" Stacy tries to explain to Schemer the true qualities to be Santa's Helper, only for Schemer to dismiss them with contempt. He also laughs at the idea of Stacy being Santa's Helper, provoking Stacy enough to compete for the role against him. Tucker arrives at the station with a Christmas tree, aided by an elderly man called Mr. Nicholas. This visitor soon proves to be no ordinary passenger, as he knows several things about Stacy from when she was a child. Mr. Nicholas says he has come to Shining Time Station to catch the Northern Star. Stacy informs him that no train by that name runs on the Indian Valley Railroad, but Mr. Nicholas is confident it will come. Meanwhile, Vickie is dropped off at the station by her mother Claire, who has to leave to do her Christmas shopping. She quickly turns out to be rude and selfish as Matt and Tanya feared. Mr. King returns to tell Stacy the weather is turning bad and if it gets any worse the trains will have to be stopped. He takes notice of Mr. Nicholas and tries to tell him there is no train called the Northern Star. Mr. Nicholas insists that the Northern Star has never been late yet and distracts Mr. King with some memories from his childhood. Schemer, who has begun his campaign against Stacy by hanging posters all over the station, tells Mr. King, as well as Midge Smoot and the Mayor, untrue things about her. However, his words only encourage them to compete for the role as well. Meanwhile, Vickie is still being difficult and Matt and Tanya finally tell her to go away. Sulking on a bench, she meets Mr. Nicholas who suggests she smile more. Encouraged, she returns to try again, and the kids accept her help on decorating the Christmas tree. Her helpfulness ends in disaster when she accidentally knocks over the Christmas tree while attempting to put an angel figurine on the top. The kids blame her for it, and Vickie runs off in shame. Mr. King then comes to announce that he's had to stop all of the trains due to the weather. He tells Mr. Nicholas, but he's still adamant that the Northern Star will arrive. Mr. Nicholas also confronts Vickie, and they both watch a movie in the Picture Machine in which a little boy visits the lonely hobo to provide him some company on Christmas. Vickie learns that some people are alone on Christmas and Mr. Nicholas also teaches her that some presents don't come in decorated boxes or cost money. Vickie then expresses her desire to see Santa Claus, as she wishes for him to bring a present for her mother. Mr. Nicholas counsels that the best present comes from the heart, and Vickie realizes that her gift of song is what her mother likes best of her. The Christmas tree is upright again, but the lights don't work anymore and Matt and Tanya still blame Vickie. However, Mr. Conductor tells another story about Thomas to show the kids that sometimes accidents happen and it's really no one person's fault. Once the story is finished, Matt and Tanya decide to forgive Vickie. Stacy offers to help Mr. Nicholas spend the night at the station, but to her surprise, the Northern Star arrives as he had predicted. Meanwhile, the Christmas Committee meeting has started. To everyone's surprise, the Mayor declares himself the winner of the Santa's Helper contest, and a loud argument breaks out. When Vickie asks Mr. Nicholas for help, he tells her to use her gift. Vickie does so, singing a song that not only stops the argument, but reminds them all of the true spirit of Christmas. It even touches her mother, who has just arrived to pick her up. Later Schemer calls his mother to report that everyone will play Santa's Helper in the pageant. Knowing his work is done, Mr. Nicholas leaves to board his train, but not before meeting Mr. Conductor and magically repairing the Christmas tree lights. The story ends as all gather around the Christmas Tree, and Vickie, with a little help from the adults, places the angel figurine on the tree successfully.
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