Sodor Mapped

This is my map of the Island of Sodor, as depicted in the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Model Series Seasons 1-5. You can download and view it closer with the link below: drive.google.com/file/d/18a8vkN…

@ScaleWharf I’m thinking these parts line up, assuming this is early concept art before this set was fully conceptualized (S1 or pre-S2) Main Line runs through the yards before meeting up with the line on the elevated bridge Sidings next to/under the bridge were added later

@SodorMapped Okay, so that elevated bit on the right? That has to connect to the S2 knapford yard. Maybe the yard is in the upper right corner of the image

How have I never seen this before???

Okay, I have a theory/headcannon In World’s Strongest Engine, Topham says to Diesel “I thought you would be a proper dockyard diesel, but I was wrong.” What if World’s Strongest Engine takes place DURING Salty’s Secret and Diesel’s failure at the docks was what made Topham 1/2

@01Salty1 There’s actually one other instance of this location being featured in a plot centric role, with it being the first location James passes going down the Branch Line to Brendam Docks in “Fruitful Day” Ultimately, I can’t help but feel this location makes the most sense

@SodorMapped This is a fantastic theory! It's a shame the below shot in 'Bulgy' throws a spanner in the works. From memory that's the only episode that uses this set as part of the ongoing plot, as opposed to generic 'engines working' shots throughout S3.

Let’s talk about the “Three Way Road”, and why the new popular theory about Brendam being the stand-in for Vicarstown in Seasons 1-3 solidifies it being north of Suddery on the Brendam Peninsula (Thread)

Concurrently, all passenger traffic between Wellsworth and Suddery would travel on this uppermost line. As the map shows, both lines join again right before Wellsworth and Suddery respectively. Buzz Buzz shows passenger and goods sometimes can run on the bottom most line

After Suddery station, the Branch Line itself splits as well right before this set. This is used in instances of particularly heavy traffic between Suddery and Wellsworth. In these instances, all goods traffic run on the bottom line along the canal

@ImReadingU I don’t believe the implication was that the station wasn’t on Main Line, just that it’s on its own little spur. It would be like saying “Gordon pulled out of the yards and onto the Main Line” at Knapford. The yards are technically not part of the Main Line.

@SodorMapped "The new station was a two tier affair.The upper part was the main station for passengers. The lower part was given to sidings, depots and general transport" But then Gordon "shunted out of the station" and "he was back on the main line" (implying the station isn't).

@SodorMapped What's up with Kirk Ronan geographically/structurally? Per S5 drafts, it's a "new main line station", and on Gordon's express run (implying it's not a terminus). Yet it famously has buffers and a wall. It's also a "2 tier affair" (top = passengers, bottom = goods).

This would explain the main line ending at Maron/Brendam in the early seasons show, why Maron has a bay platform, and why Kirk Ronan is so large. Kirk Ronan isn’t brand new, it’s a reopened station that used to be the terminus station for a previous railway

As for how this works in the TVS canon, I have a theory: Kirk Ronan is part of Mitton’s own version of the Sodor and Mainland Railway With no Ballahoo or Norramby, Mitton instead replaced them with Crovan’s Gate and Kirk Ronan respectively

Here’s what I think happened regarding Kirk Ronan in S5 (Thread) For starters, I fully believe that the concept of Kirk Ronan being intended as a station goes back to S4. Mitton’s 1994 Map shows a pair of lines running from Crovan’s Gate southwest towards, presumably, Kirkronan