1 Year of The British Railway Series Website

This month marks the 1st Anniversary of the British Railway Series Website going live. The site is run and maintained by Sodor Island Fansite and series creator, Simon Martin, and we are proud to be associated with such a class act - combining historiography and master storytelling into one brilliant screen production.

The British Railway Series came to SiF in the Autumn of 2008, and we have since built up very strong ties and friendship with Simon Martin, who remains devoted to the development of his characters and their Copley Hill home.

If you haven't already visited the site, it contains numerous factoids on the Series and a behind the scenes look at every episode from the perspective of the Director / Writer / Producer himself. And with nearly 20,000 hits in it's first year, it's well worth a look.

http://www.sodor-island.net/thebritishrailwayseries/

Five Years of Sodor Island Fansite

Five years ago - I had my first foray into administration and leadership of a forum. The Forum was the Star Tugs Pier - the first TUGS Forum on the internet. The position of leader had more or less been forced upon me, as my co-Admin, David, had left me in the lurch a year previous, and although the forum enjoyed the fruits of success - there were fraught difficulties throughout the year, which came to a turbulent head when myself and my two most active moderators came to blows. They went on to establish their own forum, which also never lasted pace, and I disbanded The Star Tugs Pier.


Shortly after, I turned my attentions to again, setting up a dedicated Thomas website. Given the boost that SiF had enjoyed in the course of 2004, it felt like a good time to experiment again. I never envisaged that Sodor Island Fansite would have taken off in the way that it did. I thought it would become another throw-away fad, but something compelled me to keep working on it - with a lot of help from friends such as Christopher Signore et al. However, the first two to three years were not without trial and tribulation, particularly from a serial plageriser, whose attempts at credibility have since subsided...

The Fansite has been a very powerful tool for Sodor Island Forums to grow, and I put a lot of the success of later years down to the Fansite's attraction - bringing in the likes of The Old Bean and others to the Forum over the years, who have developed our community and built up a group who can further the influence of the Fansite further.

It is a flagship to be proud of - and a team effort to maintain and develop further with media and items of interest for fans to enjoy, attracting support from Britt Allcroft, David Mitton, Christopher and Diana Awdry, as well as current rights holders HIT Entertainment among other admirers.

I hope you'll charge your glasses to Five Wonderful Years of Sodor Island Fansite, and it's invaluable contribution to the world of Thomas the Tank Engine and all of his friends!

At 5.15pm, The SiF Express runs!

The SiF Express Runs Tonight!!!

Last year I was given a very special gift from my staff team - a Thomas & Friends Crew Members vest from the 2002 shoot. The appreciation of my efforts was overwhelming, particularly given the battering that SiF was receiving from outsiders and former users, and it sums up what a brilliant team the Sodor Island Forums Staff are. Sadly, not all of them will be able to make it tonight, when a very special event will be happening to honour them and say 'Thank You'.

The gentlemen of SiF will be led unwittingly to Tywyn Wharf station at 4pm by Chris The Xelent, after Rhodri's house is arranged and put in order. Then, the call to make their way to the final destination will come through. The Final Destination of course, will be Pendre, half a mile out of Tywyn and the motive power depot for the Talyllyn Railway - which will mark the first ever run of The SiF Express... as Ryan goes on his Daylight Evening Driver's Experience Course! The lads will be treated to a Private Train and then dinner and drinks at the Railway Inn at Abergynolwyn.

The initial arrangements were made for this in December of 2008, but thanks to SiF Member, Talyllyn, additional preparations have gone through - which include the creation of The SiF Express headboard, and the use of No.4, possibly in the guise of Peter Sam for the evening to run the train! I'm very appreciative of Talyllyn's efforts and I promise him a hearty reward when next I see him. Unfortunately, No.3 is out of comission right now owing to Pony Truck problems, and she won't be available to perform her usual duties at Duncan Day - filling in for her old buddy, No.6 who's currently in bits as part of an overhaul.

The lads on the trip know nothing of what's due to happen tonight. Put simply - the journey along the Talyllyn in a Private Train with a special headboard is only ONE of the surprises we have lined up. Thankfully, I have Chris The Xelent and a few select others 'in the know' to make sure that everything goes swimmingly. The train runs at 5.15pm, and my 'team' consisting of Fox, Alaric and Loey Machan will be making the preparations for the departure as of 4.30pm, as well as soaking up the atmosphere of the yard at Pendre prior to the departure, and unveiling of the headboard.

Given that it's been unofficially decided that 2009 will mark the end of the year-on-year Wales trips and movement to another venue in 2010, which is most likely to be York. However, tonight will mark the beginning of our week-long goodbye to the land of little trains which has treated us so well for three summers in a row. And while we will be back at some point hopefully, the time's come to change the venue for once.

And finally, to the members of my staff team who can't be there tonight - I'll give an extra long blow on No.4's whistle just for you guys!

With love and best wishes from the Talyllyn Railway,

Ryan and the Gang!

Dolgoch Needs YOU!

This month and this month alone - I would encourage every member of Sodor Island Forums to pick up a copy of Steam Railway Magazine, and send a donation of their choosing to Steam Railway's appeal to make sure the Talyllyn Railway's No.2 - Dolgoch, the inspiration for Rheneas on the Skarloey Railway. But Dolgoch is so much more than this - she's the Preservation Pioneer and a national hero who brought about the rescue of other engines, and in 2008 - the birth of a new build, A1 Pacific Tornado. She's part of the reason that steam still runs in the way that it does - because the Talyllyn proved it could work!

I will be personally encouraging all members attending the SiF UK Meeting in Wales to contribute at least £10 to Dolgoch's overhaul, where her 1963 boiler is going to be replaced by a new one to keep her going for several decades to come. But the onus of this appeal is to make sure that she's up and running for the 60th Anniversary of Railway Preservation in 2011.

SiF's dealings with the Talyllyn Railway have always been very positive and friendly. From our footplate rides aboard Tom Rolt in 2007 to the offer to prebook our seats on the Duncan Day train in 2008 - as well as Traffic Manager, David Leech, taking time to chat to us about a peculiar Peter Sam incident at Pendre yard. It would be ungrateful not to say "Thank You" for three years of wonderful trips to the Talyllyn Railway by not forking out at least £10 to make sure Dolgoch's running in 2011.

And with that - I bid you all goodbye as I prepare to head off for another trip to The Rails of Wales...!

With best wishes, Ryan!

BTW - Check out the Blog on Saturday after 12pm (GMT) to get a major update on the Big Surprise...! ;P

Hero of the Rails UK Premiere

Hero of the Rails - UK Premiere
It says a lot when Sodor Island Forums have come such a long way, winning the support of the Awdry family, David Mitton, Britt Allcroft and now HiT Entertainment, who have awarded us five tickets to the UK premiere of the new CGI Special - Hero of the Rails in Leicester Square in London this September.

The five attendees have been chosen, and we're all very excited to be attending such a prestigious event - and thank HIT Entertainment for acknowledging us older fans of the series with such a kind and generous gesture of good will.

In the meantime, the hot event of the SiF Calender approaches - SiF in Wales 2009... - keep an eye on the blog for the 22nd of August, when there will be a revelation like no other! :)

All the best,
Ryan

Arkwright is All Right!

North Americans picking up HiT Entertainment's lastest DVD release: Team Up with Thomas will notice a significant change in the disc's content. For the first time since HiT's takeover of the Thomas franchise, we're introduced to a live-action host, Mr. Arkwright - resident of Sodor and one of Sir Topham Hatt's engine drivers.

Driver Arkwright is played by Canadian-born actor Robert G. Slade, who has extensive theatre experience and has dabbled in television, movies and radio. Now a resident of London, England, Robert has recently lent his talents as a host of sorts for two scheduled DVD releases of Thomas & Friends. Robert's 2nd appearance as Mr. Arkwright will be in the upcoming July 14, 2009 DVD release of Percy and the Bandstand (North America).

In his debut, Mr. Arkwright is tasked by Sir Topham Hatt to construct a replica of Thomas made from cardboard boxes for his grandchildren's birthday party. Each stage of the engine's construction is interjected by a Series-12 episode: Heave-Ho Thomas, James Works it Out, Tram Trouble and Push Me-Pull You.

Robert Slade's performance as Driver Arkwright delivers a very charming, warm and quite likeable character to the audience. The episode lead-ins and follow-ups are reminicent of Shining Time Station's Mr. Conductor persona. Slade's comedic moments of struggling with the engine schematics, intense concentration of the task at hand, down to taking a lunch break were a treat to watch.

Robert's British accent also added credibility to the role - let us never forget that the Island of Sodor is indeed part of the United Kingdom. Speaking of which, seeing the framed classic 1992 version of the Isle of Sodor map hanging on the wall was endearing, and that portrait of the Fat Controller in pose is now on my want list :) The Engine Crew lounge set, with its various antiques and railway artefacts also added a degree of authenticity.

If HiT Entertainment considers the introduction of Mr. Arkwright a proof-of-concept experiment, then I'd venture to say that it was a success. I understand that Mr. Arkwright has been initially only introduced to North American audiences. We hope that opportunity will also be given to UK fans. If there's any message that I'd like to convey to HiT, it's that the premise of a live host to introduce and summarize the episode lessons has a lot of potential and should be explored further.

My best as always :)

Jim (TT)

SiF YouTube

Normally I take a dim view of YouTube and the reputation that the Thomas Online Community there has, however, more recently I've found my most positive views of YouTube since I joined up in 2006.

The SiF Youtube account - SiForumsandFansite - which is aimed at promoting the Forum and Fansite launched it's first proper video, an advertisement for SiF, which has boosted the profile of the forum and the YouTube Channel itself enormously. We'd like to extend a debt of gratitude to the people who have taken the time to watch and absorb the positive message associated with it - and more importantly, signed up to the forum to become fully-fledged members after seeing what's on offer. As a result we have seen our subscribers and friends on YouTube grow and comments have been very positive. :)

Thank you all for your continuing support and we hope to have more YouTube related work on the Channel soon!