The Mainland

The **United Kingdom** is **the Mainland** of Sodor.

## Location

The Mainland (United Kingdom) is located across the Walney Channel from Sodor and is accessed via the Vicarstown Bridge. Barrow-in-Furness is the nearest mainland station and town to Sodor. Sodor itself bridges the bay between Barrow and the Isle of Man, reducing what would otherwise be a swath of open sea into a narrow strip of water named Faarkey-Y-Sudragh ("Sudrian Sea").

## Named Locations

Certain locations on the Mainland have been mentioned by name in both the Railway Series and the television series. These include:

### Barrow-in-Furness

**The Railway Series**

* **The Eight Famous Engines** - Percy Takes the Plunge and Gordon Goes Foreign
* **Duck and the Diesel Engine** - Domeless Engines
* **Enterprising Engines** - Escape
* **Gordon the High-Speed Engine** - Fire Escape and Gordon Proves His Point
* **Henry and the Express** - Out of Puff

**Thomas & Friends**

* **Series 19** - Reds vs. Blues (*mentioned*)

### Bluebell Railway

**The Railway Series**

* **Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine** - Bluebells of England, Stepney's Special, Train Stops Play (*mentioned*) and Bowled Out (*mentioned*)

**Thomas & Friends**

* **Series 4** - Rusty to the Rescue (*mentioned*) and Bowled Out (*mentioned*)

### Bournemouth

**The Railway Series**

* **Toby the Tram Engine** - Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas (*mentioned*)
* **Thomas's Christmas Party** (*mentioned*)

**Thomas & Friends**

* **Series 1** - Thomas' Christmas Party (*mentioned, Ringo Starr narrations only*)

### Bridlington

**Thomas & Friends** **Specials**

* **2017** - Journey Beyond Sodor

### Brighton

**Thomas & Friends** **Specials**

* **2015** - The Adventure Begins (*mentioned*)

### Bristol

**The Railway Series**

* **Duck and the Diesel Engine** - Domeless Engines (*mentioned*)

### Carlisle

**The Railway Series**

* **Gordon the High-Speed Engine** - Gordon Proves His Point (*mentioned*)

### Carnforth

**The Railway Series**

* **Thomas and the Great Railway Show** - Museum-Piece (*mentioned*)

### Crewe

**The Railway Series**

* **Henry the Green Engine** - The Flying Kipper (*mentioned*) and Henry's Sneeze (*mentioned*)
* **Enterprising Engines** - Tenders for Henry (*mentioned*)
* **Henry and the Express** - Overhaul (*mentioned*)
* **Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines** - Birdstrike (*mentioned*)

**Thomas & Friends**

* **Series 1** - The Flying Kipper (*mentioned*) and Whistles and Sneezes (*mentioned; only in UK version*)

### Doncaster

**The Railway Series**

* **Enterprising Engines** - Tenders for Henry (*mentioned*)
* **Gordon the High-Speed Engine** - High-Speed Gordon (*mentioned*)

### Great Yarmouth Docks

**The Railway Series**

* **Toby, Trucks and Trouble** - Toby's Seaside Holiday

### London

**The Railway Series**

* **Toby the Tram Engine** - Toby and the Stout Gentleman (*mentioned*)
* **The Eight Famous Engines** - Gordon Goes Foreign (*Euston, King's Cross, Paddington and St. Pancras station; mentioned*), Double Header (*mentioned*) and The Fat Controller's Engines
* **Thomas Comes Home** - Snow Problem (*mentioned*)
* **Henry and the Express** - Out of Puff (*mentioned*)
* **Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines** - Birdstrike (*mentioned*)
* **Thomas and his Friends** - Buffer-Bashing (*mentioned*) and Gordon's Fire Service (*mentioned*)

**Thomas & Friends**

* **Series 4** - Thomas and the Special Letter
* **Series 17** - The Thomas Way (*Paddington Station*)

**Specials**

* **2018** - Big World! Big Adventures! (*Buckingham Palace*)

### Lydney

**The Railway Series**

* **Wilbert the Forest Engine** - Cab Over Wheels (*mentioned*)

### National Railway Museum

**The Railway Series**

* **Thomas and the Great Railway Show** - Museum-Piece (*mentioned*), Not the Ticket, Trouble on the Line and Thomas and the Railtour
* **Thomas Comes Home** - Thomas Comes Home (*mentioned*)

### Norfolk

**The Railway Series**

* **Toby, Trucks and Trouble** - Toby's Seaside Holiday

### Plymouth

**The Railway Series**

* **Duck and the Diesel Engine** - Domeless Engines (*mentioned*)

### Skipton

**The Railway Series**

* **Thomas and the Great Railway Show** - Museum-Piece (*mentioned*)

### York

**The Railway Series**

* **Thomas and the Great Railway Show** - Museum-Piece (*mentioned*), Not the Ticket, Trouble on the Line and Thomas and the Railtour
* **Thomas Comes Home** - Snow Problem (*mentioned*)

### Lake Windermere

**The Railway Series**

* **Thomas and Victoria** - Avalanche

### Haverthwaite

**The Railway Series**

* **Thomas and Victoria** - Avalanche

### The Craneworks

**Thomas & Friends**

* **Series 21** - Cranky at the End of the Line (*mentioned*)

### The Steelworks

**Thomas & Friends**

* **Series 22** - Seeing is Believing (*mentioned*)

**Specials**

* **2017** - Journey Beyond Sodor
* **2018** - Big World! Big Adventures! (*mentioned*)

## Railways

The Mainland is home to a number of different railways. The main railway company on the Mainland is British Railways, however there are many others, some of which are listed here:

* Bluebell Railway
* Corris Railway
* Dean Forest Railway
* Ffestiniog Railway
* National Railway Museum
* Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
* Snowdon Mountain Railway
* Talyllyn Railway
* Toby's Old Tramway (*Railway Series-only*)

## Rolling Stock

### Locomotives

Percy's Workshop Friends

City of Truro

Stepney

Flying Scotsman

Diesel

Class 40

#### Railway Series only

87546

98462

Midland Railway Engines

Big City Engine

Jinty

Pug

Pretty Polly

Lemberg

Bluebell

Primrose

Adams

Cromford

Captain Baxter

Gordon's Brothers

The Coalbrookdale Locomotive

Toby's Brothers

8783

1020

Alfred

Judy

Boxhill

Iron Duke (*broad gauge*)

Green Arrow

Stephenson's Rocket

Mallard

Duchess of Hamilton

Wilbert

Sixteen

Bahamas

Albert

Diesel 199

Old Stuck-Up

31120

10751

D5705

Talyllyn

Dolgoch

Sir Haydn

Edward Thomas

Douglas

Prince

Livingston Thompson

River Esk

River Mite

#### Television Series only

Spencer

Hiro

Charlie's Friends

Novelty

Sans Pareil

Connor

Caitlin

Samson

Logan

Lexi

Theo

Hurricane

Merlin

Splatter

Dodge

The Mainland Diesels

Ulli

Frankie

Eurostar

#### Magazines and Annuals only

The Flying Thistle

Thirteen

The High-Speed Post Train

The Green Workshop Engine

The Silver Workshop Diesel

### Coaches and Trucks

#### Railway Series only

Metropolitan Railway Coaches

Irene

Helena

#### Television Series only

Spencer's Coaches

Connor's Coaches

Caitlin's Coaches

Bradford

#### Magazines and Annuals only

The First Posh Coach

The Second Posh Coach

The Elderly Brake Van (*formerly*)

Additionally, the majority of the engines and rolling stock on the North Western Railway, Skarloey Railway, Arlesdale Railway and Mid Sodor Railway originate from the Mainland.

## Non-Rail Vehicles

#### Railway Series only

The Green Bus

040 BMC

Mermaid Liverpool

North Star

#### Television Series only

Tony

Beresford

Dilly

## Humans

Elizabeth II

The Thin Clergyman

The Fat Clergyman

## Appearances

The Mainland has made several appearances in the Railway Series. In the television series, its first appearance was in the fourth series episode, Thomas and the Special Letter. In the CGI series, the Mainland has been mentioned several times and briefly seen whenever the Vicarstown bridge appears. Crovan's Gate was once used as a station on the mainland. The Mainland makes its first full appearance in The Great Race and appears in Journey Beyond Sodor.