Who are the Sodor Island Community?

As you march through life, you tend to find a lot of your friends seem to come and go. But then, there's always someone, beyond that of a tied blood relative, that you can rely on for anything, who's always there for you whenever you need them and always brings a smile to your face just by knowing they're there to see you through. That's why a lot of people have been drawn to SiF at one time or another, because the one thing that has brought that smile to their face is Thomas and his friends. Just a constant warm reminder of a happier and simpler time in their life, and of their childhood innocence.

I think personally, a lot of it has to do with recapturing the innocence of being a child again. When you're in a big modern world full of "grown-ups", with a lot of responsibility for both yourself and for others around you, it's nice to just let go of that and look back again.

Some are drawn from the TV Series generation, where they've been introduced to Thomas as a young child, and as a result, bought the Awdry Railway Series books and learned the history behind the original characters and stories as they grew up. Others have had the vice-versa, brought up on the Railway Series books, but with an appreciation of the TV series as well to boot. But regardless of how the connection with Thomas and his Sodor friends came about, it's remained a constant in their lives, and is still very much appreciated and loved.

It's a huge testament to the late Reverend Awdry and to his memory, that such an appreciation can be found among those who count themselves young at heart. The rich history that surrounds his famous engines lasting for over sixty years so far and touching the lives of numerous generations along the way. To pay tribute to Britt Allcroft as well, despite the faults and differences found, without her the mass appeal of these characters would never have been as far-reaching as it has been. A visionary and creative woman who took the characters and brought them to life. It would be somewhat fair to ask, in around ten to fifteen years when the audiences of modern day children's phenomena, like that of The Tweenies, have finally grown, will the same adulation be laid on for them?

And so, despite the noticable flaws of the modern day production, which are largely attributed to modern day values, the members of Sodor Island Forums are happy to stick by the series and the characters. And in more recent years, have found that making their voices heard to the producers of the series, in the form of letter writing and in some cases, creation of nitpicks videos! As well as the participation in the petitioning of Egmont Books, who hold the publishing rights to all Thomas material, in order to get the Railway Series back in print and new material to the collection. Tribute is also found among the Sodor Island group as well, in the form of fan related writings and the many visual and audio redubs that have emerged since 2004. Not to mention the first original model railway based series by Captain Punjab, Thomas the Bachman Model, which proved extremely popular in terms of it's unique innovation, writing and implementation.

But above all else, Sodor Island is a place where people from across the world have come together as friends through their love of Thomas the Tank Engine and related series such as TUGS. The main emphasis would have to be that it's a community of caring people. People who care about where their old friends are going and how they're going to get there; people who want to say thanks for the joy that has been brought to them over the years and how much it's enriched their lives. But what shines through after around four years as a community is how much they care about each other as well, hence why the member meetings have become more appealing and attractive since the first ones in 2005.