Taking a trip to the island of Sodor

A map of the Island of Sodor from The Railway ...

Image via WikipediaYes, Sodor is the fictional island where the Thomas & Friends steam engine rails run their specials, shunting cars and hauling freight.

Can you believe there is an entire mythology and history to Sodor?
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodor_(fictional_island):

"The need for consistency in the locations for The Railway Series necessitated the creation of a suitable location. The Rev. Awdry required a setting for his books that would be within Great Britain,Rule[›] but would be sufficiently isolated from the rest of British Railways to allow him to do as he wished with the location.

Inspiration came on a visit to the Diocese of Sodor and Man[1] in 1950. Awdry noted that while there was an Isle of Man, there was no similar Island of Sodor. A large island would meet the criteria he required, giving him the isolation from changes to the British railway system while giving him somewhere that people could believe in.

Between them, Awdry and his brother George worked out Sodor's history, geography, industry and language ("Sudric"). Inspiration came from various sources. Dryaw was an anagram of Awdry.

Elsbridge was named after Wilbert's parish of Elsworth. Some place names were Sudric equivalents of those in the real world (for instance, Skarloey was the Sudric version of the Welsh Talyllyn). By the time they had finished, they knew more about Sodor than would ever be used in the actual Railway Series stories.

Their abridged notes were published in 1987 in a book entitled The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways"

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