- “The Island of Sodor is surrounded by beautiful blue sea. It has fields of green and sandy yellow beaches. There are rivers, streams and lots of trees where the birds sing. There are windmills, and a coal mine, and docks where visitors to the island arrive.”
- ― The narrator describing the Island of Sodor in the opening segment between the eighth and eighteenth series
The Island of Sodor, or simply Sodor, is an island in the United Kingdom. It is located in the Irish Sea, between England's Lake District and the Isle of Man.
History
In prehistoric times, Sodor is known to have been populated by Megalosaurus, with a complete skeleton having been recovered from the china clay pits at Brendam, which is currently on display at Tidmouth Town Square. Other skeletons recovered at various points include a Triceratops - discovered by Oliver while digging a foundation for a new school - and a Stegosaurus.[1] Models from the Dinosaur Park at Ulfstead Castle seem to indicate that at various points, Sodor was also home to Pelorosaurus, Lexovisaurus and Hylaeosaurus.
At one point during the Middle Ages, Sodor was ruled by King Godred, who lived in Ulfstead Castle and fought off invaders from the island with the aid of his knights. Life was said to have been good under Godred's reign and it was considered a Golden Age. It is also known that a ruler named Godred the Impaler once lived in Callan Castle and is now said to haunt Black Loch, however it is currently unknown whether this is the same Godred or not.
In the present day, Sodor is primarily overseen by the Mayor of Sodor, however its nobility remains somewhat intact, with Sir Robert Norramby being the current Earl of Sodor and the owner of the estate around Ulfstead Castle.
Railways
Current
- North Western Railway
- Skarloey Railway
- Culdee Fell Railway
- Arlesdale Railway
- Bluebell Railway
- Sodor Tramways
- Vicarstown Tramway
- Sodor Scenic Railway (magazine stories only)
Former
Names in other languages
- French: Chicalor
- Greek: Χοντροπατάτα (Chontropatáta)
- German: Soldau (Thomas and the Magic Railroad only)
- Igbo: Sodom
- Swedish: Rälsö
Trivia
- Sodor is approximately 62 miles east to west and 51 miles north to south.
- Suddery is the capital city of Sodor.
- According to the promotional videos for The Great Race, Sodor itself is its own country.
- Also, in the German dub of Journey Beyond Sodor, Thomas calls Sodor his "home country".
- This is not the case in The Railway Series.
- It could be that Sodor is one of the many countries that make up the UK (similar to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
- Sodor has its own flag, which consists of a white centre, two thin horizontal orange stripes on top of the centre, and two horizontal blue stripes on top of the orange stripes.
- The Japanese dub of the television series states that Sodor is part of the United Kingdom.
- On the BBC game show, Pointless Celebrities, when the players were asked where Thomas the Tank Engine lives, twenty-five out of the one-hundred people remembered that it was the Island of Sodor.
- Numerous roads in the Preserve South district of Columbus, Ohio, within the Albany Chase apartment complex, are named after towns on Sodor, including Arlesdale, Brendam, Elsbridge, Hackenbeck, Kellsthorpe, Knapford, Maithwaite, Tidmouth, Ulfstead, Vicarstown and Wellsworth, in addition to the Island itself.
- In 2021, Oxford named Sodor the United Kingdom's friendliest city to coincide with International Friendship Day.
References
- ↑ T&F S9 #10 "Rheneas and the Dinosaur"