The Secret Railroad or Les Voyages du Tortillard in French, was a series produced by Societe Radio-Canada of 52 (or possibly 61)[1] animated shorts made in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Episodes last 5 minutes each.
It was originally recorded in English at Place D'Youville in Montreal then subsequently dubbed into French.[2] It was produced by Peter Saunders and Danielle Marleau under the production company Films du Train Secret, and the participation of Les Société Radio-Canada and the Société de Développement de l'Industrie Cinématographique Canadienne.[3] .
It also aired in the United States on The Great Space Coaster in the early 1980s.
(Voiced by Douglas Heintzman[4])The main character is a young boy named Simon who discovers a magical steam locomotive hidden in the basement of his apartment building. Acting as the engineer Simon uses the locomotive to travel on many magical adventures.
(Voiced by Neil Shee[5])Joining Simon every episode is Mr. Passenger (Monsieur Globetrotteur in French), an old man who awaited the coming of the train for many a decade before Simon finally arrived.
With Mr. Passenger is Mélanie (Melanie), Mr. Passenger's cat who always rides atop his long stove pipe hat.
Each episode also features a character named Stella, a girl with star shaped hair. Stella's character changes from episode to episode (a mermaid in an underwater episode for example) but she always has her star shaped hair.
When you are feeling blue,
When you are feeling down.
Just do what Simon did;
Go underground.
Down there in the dark,
You hear a happy sound.
It's the secret railroad.
Adventure bound!
You better climb on board
the train's about to leave.
All you need is a passenger.
Your tickets, please!