The famous Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry is set in the fictional island of Sodor, situated between northern England and the Isle of Man. Today, reading about Sodor on Wikipedia, I was surprised to learn the amount of worldbuilding that went into it, including a flag, coat of arms, and even a fictional language called Sudric.

As a child, I devoured all the Railway Series stories, but I don't remember any references to a Sudric language spoken by the people of Sodor. Those days might, however, have predated my Tolkienian appreciation for worldbuilding and fictional languages, so it's possible that it was mentioned and I missed it. How much of the worldbuilding of Sodor actually made it into Awdry's stories, and how much was only published in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways later? I know there was a map of Sodor included somewhere, with its connections to mainland Britain, but was the language ever mentioned?

The famous Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry is set in the fictional island of Sodor, situated between northern England and the Isle of Man. Today, reading about Sodor on Wikipedia, I was surprised to learn the amount of worldbuilding that went into it, including a flag, coat of arms, and even a fictional language called Sudric.

As a child, I devoured all of Rev. W. Awdry's Railway Series stories, but I don't remember any references to a Sudric language spoken by the people of Sodor. Those days might, however, have predated my Tolkienian appreciation for worldbuilding and fictional languages, so it's possible that it was mentioned and I missed it. How much of the worldbuilding of Sodor actually made it into Awdry's original stories, and how much was only published in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways or in the later continuations by Christopher Awdry and other writers? I know there was a map of Sodor included somewhere, with its connections to mainland Britain, but was the language ever mentioned?