Sodor: The True Stories is a Thomas & Friends fanfic that purports to tell the true stories of Thomas and his friends.
The series began as a thread on Sodor Island Forums by BNSF19995 (who is also a troper), utilizing his own headcanon and screenshots taken in Trainz Simulator. One day, another user named BroaIsland approached him about a YouTube adaptation, which he jumped at. Since then, the two have been developing the adaptation and posting stories on Fanfiction.net.
The series is a Darker and Edgier take on the franchise, with frequent swearing, death, and violence. It also features original characters based on characters from RWBY and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and takes elements from other works such as The Stories of Sodor (namely the non-faceless vehicle concept and the character of Kate) and Sodor the Early Years (mainly characters such as the W&S trio, Eric, and Peter).
In addition to stories, the fanfic is also made up of "bible" chapters written in the style of a history book, as well as "Fact vs. Fiction" chapters divulging how the stories and episodes differed from what "actually" happened.
The fanfiction can be found here
. The adaptation for YouTube is in pre-production, with filming for the pilot, "Branch Line Engines", having wrapped on June 4, 2021.
Sodor: The True Stories provides examples of:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Quite a few, the biggest one being that Thomas got his branchline the day he arrived on Sodor, as Colin was already the Knapford station pilot. The Fact vs. Fiction chapter states that Awdry used various incidents from the early days of the North Western Railway to give Thomas a more compelling character arc (for example, the events of "Thomas & Gordon" involved Yang dragging Colin along by complete accident, and the events of "Thomas' Train" happened to Adam).
- Adaptational Expansion: The adaptation of "A Close Shave" shows what was happening at Knapford while Duck was at Wellsworth. Namely, Diesel's lies about Henry, and the moment he was caught and sent away.
- Adaptational Heroism: Many characters have had their negative qualities either toned down or removed entirely. For example, Thomas is a Nice Guy who is mortified by what HIT Entertainment and later Mattel have turned him into, Percy is a gentleman who isn't above making threats a la Taken, Henry only stopped in the tunnel because he was having mechanical difficulties, and he covered up his shortcomings by feigning vanity, Falcon (he never really changes his name to Sir Handel) is infuriated by the books and show depicting him as a cynic, as he grew out of that behavior following the events of "Bulldog", Duncan is a Workaholic who could care less about polish, Mike is a safety freak who refused to move after losing his whistle (and was commended by The Small Controller for his devotion to safety), Harry (D199) Took a Level in Kindness in preservation, and Vincent (Diesel 10) only hated steam engines because he was mentally, emotionally, and psychologically-tortured by his controller, PT Boomer, to be the perfect steam locomotive hunter, mainly to settle a score with Burnett Stone.
- Adaptational Jerkass: At the same time, many characters are also depicted getting much more angry, profane, and violent than in canon.
- Adaptational Name Change: Many, many characters are differently named from canon.
- Sir Handel and Peter Sam's real names remain Falcon and Stuart, the latter two names merely being commemorative nameplates.
- As in The Stories of Sodor, Diesel's real name is Bruce, The Foreign Engine is Reginald, City of Truro is Montgomery, and The Spiteful Brakevan is Dominic.
- The Red Engine is named Eagle.
- D261 is named Matthew.
- On the Culdee Fell Railway, Culdee's real name is Cullen, Shane Dooiney is merely Shane, and Lord Harry was always named Patrick.
- The Flying Scotsman's real name is Abel.
- D199 is named Harry.
- S.C. Ruffey's real name is Franklin, Fred Pelhay's real name just so happens to be Fred, Rickety's real name is Rick, and the ULP van's real name is Masterson.
- Splatter and Dodge's real names are Jasper and Horace.
- Diesel 10's real name is Vincent.
- Numerous characters adapted from Sodor Island Forums' Extended Railway Series have vastly different names (and in many cases, numbers) to avoid getting in trouble with the ERS staff. For example, Jessica was named Samantha in the originally-published version of the "Escape" adaptation, which was found by the ERS staff to be too similar to Samarkand (especially since both are BR Standard 9F locomotives), so Jessica was chosen at random as her new name.
- In a non-character example, Victor Tanzig's non-faceless vehicle concept is used with some changed names:
- Non-faceless vehicles are called Sentients
- Faceless vehicles are called Inanimates
- Black Water is called Blair Water (as this universe's version of The Blair Witch Project was based on a Sudrian legend)
- The White Fang from RWBY is referred to as the Knights of Steam (the bible chapter discussing the Steam Holocaust states they were originally going to use the name White Fang, but changed it after something told them that certain Sentient vehicles could be extremely offended by the name).
- Misty Island's official name is the Isle of Bren.
- Adaptational Villainy: In canon, George is merely a troublemaker. The adaptation of "Bye, George!", meanwhile, depicts him causing the worst rail disaster in Sudrian history, and revelling in it. He gets executed for his troubles.
- Diesel is depicted in the "Duck and the Diesel Engine" trilogy as making up lies about the steam engines in order to get them sent away to sheds on the mainland where they would certainly be scrapped. And when he was found out, he fully intended to run over and kill The Fat Controller and make it look like an accident so a more "progressive" controller could take over, before the police sting sprang the trap.
- The BR controllers. The Rev. W. Awdry said in the foreword for Stepney The Bluebell Engine that BR controllers are not cruel, and in fact are supportive of the preservation movement. One of the exposition chapters, however, revealed that this was a big, fat lie, as Awdry noticed the illustration Peter and Gunvor Edwards had made of two Sentient steam locomotives looking down in fear at a man with a blowtorch, and knew it wasn't Black Comedy. The subsequent "Awdry Leaks" brought the Steam Holocaust to public attention. The controllers are cruel, thinking that the very presence of steam locomotives automatically makes Britain a communist nation, and both Parliament AND the United Nations willingly conspire to scrap Sentient steam locomotives alive for their essence (Spectra), which can be refined into an efficient fuel source. The United States acts the same way, and after the government orders a massive crackdown in 1968, PM Harold Wilson even considers going to war with the United States over it, only to exercise restraint due to the fact such a war would mean an automatic Soviet victory in the Cold War.
- D261 was, in canon, merely a smug diesel who got his comeuppance. His S:TTS counterpart Matthew, meanwhile, developed a full-on God Complex by the time Tim and Chloe were transferred to Sodor.
- Adapted Out:
- Characters that the authors disliked are completely absent, namely Nianote , Luke, the International Engines, and the Experimental Engines. Other characters not present include Victor (the narrow gauge engine, his role having been taken by Penny), Timothy (the China Clay engine, not the Ghost Train), Bertram, Smudger, Connor, Caitlin, Millie, and Stafford. These characters exist in-universe as fictional characters created mainly as an excuse for merchandising.
- Also in-universe, this goes both ways. Many engines on the North Western Railway do not appear in this universe's version of the books or television series either because they requested not to appear (mainly so they wouldn't be hounded by rabid fans), did something in the past that was family-unfriendly (IE Alfred's attempted murder of Gordon and Henry, Cecil being executed for reckless endangerment, Klondike also being executed for trying to kill Henry and Ruby and indirectly getting his crew killed, Yang swearing like a sailor, and The Red Engines' grisly deaths during World War II), or because HIT Entertainment and later Mattel viewed them as unmarketable and boring and either replaced them with a Suspiciously Similar Substitute (IE Pip and Emma being replaced by Connor and Caitlin), or they do appear, but are grossly exaggerated caricatures with some unrealistic gimmick to make them more appealing toys (IE Belle having water cannons, when in the series' canon, she's merely a passenger locomotive still painted in BR Black).
- Alternate Universe: In canon, Sodor has four railways. In Sodor: The True Stories, Sodor has six: the four canon railways (North Western Railway, Skarloey Railway, Culdee Fell Railway, and Arlesdale Railway, plus past railways such as the Sodor & Mainland Railway, Wellsworth & Suddery Railway, Tidmouth, Knapford, and Elsbridge Railway, Mid-Sodor Railway, and Cronk & Harwick Light Railway), as well as two fan-made railways (Higher Sudrian Rail, which serves the northern part of Sodor, including Ballaswein, Cregwir, and Shining Time, depicted here as a colony made by Americans who escaped the civil war) and connects with the NWR at Vicarstown and Arlesburgh, and a sixth railway that has yet to be determined; in the past, there was also Sodor Tramway and the Killdane & Cronk Light Railway.
- Big Sister Instinct: Yang is extremely protective of Ruby, and will go off on anyone who would harm her.
- Cool Train: One of the main purposes of the fic and its upcoming adaptation. This is a Thomas & Friends fanfic, after all.
- Darker and Edgier: Oh yes. Characters frequently swear, crashes are much more violent and often have people getting killed, engines get physical with each other, and common Jerkass characters in canon are much more willing to commit murder by any means necessary.
- Driven to Suicide: During World War II, Britt drove herself into a smelter’s pit at Barrow-In-Furness out of grief after all of the other Red Engines (except for James and Eagle) all died instantly or had to be given the Final Firing after a German U-boat torpedoed a fuel-loading tanker ship, which caused a chain reaction that led to the gunpowder vans right next to the shed that the Red Engines were in exploding.
- Dysfunction Junction: All of the engines at Knapford Harbor Shed have several issues that, starting with Chapter 48, will be addressed in a long arc:
- Tim was embittered by the Steam Holocaust (especially since his controller before arriving on Sodor was a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk who only changed his tune once Tim almost ran him over and scared him into submission) and feels the need to protect those closest to him by any means necessary; as it stands, he also has little existence outside of working and being Ruby's boyfriend
- Chloe tends to be Tim's right-hand woman in his endeavors, afraid to make big decisions on her own lest she mess up and have to deal with the consequences
- Ruby's self-confidence is basically non-existent thanks to the Strike of '34, Klondike nearly killing her, James' relentless bullying when she stood up for BoCo, and the Crosby Rail Disaster masterminded by George; she basically uses Tim as an emotional crutch; she also tends to cover up her insecurities by acting like an immature Genki Girl, like in this universe's version of "Woolly Bear"
- Yang is a hothead who has been trying to channel her anger in productive ways, like protecting Ruby or going after people who deserve it; her anger mainly stems from her past rivalry with Emily over who was the best express engine (prior to Gordon's arrival, the two, along with Ruby and Adam, took turns on the express; Yang and Emily were the primary engines, with Adam and Ruby serving as reliefs)
- Blake fought Rommel's forces in North Africa and was a member of the Knights of Steam
- Weiss also fought in North Africa in Blake, and has first-hand accounts of the worst figures of the Steam Holocaust like Dai Woodham (little did she know that Woodham Brothers actually saved countless Sentient steam locomotives, but as she had been stolen by scrap thieves en route from Newton Abbott and constantly moved around until she was found in a police raid in 1998, she never knew this)
- Iris tries to stay out of their antics, but by being a passive observer, she creates more trouble than intended
- All of them (except Iris) hold a massive grudge against James (mainly stemming from what he did to Ruby in 1934 and 1966, even though Blake and Weiss weren't on Sodor yet), and have never let go of it
- When there's a big issue on the railway, they don't hold "indignation meetings" like the Tidmouth-based engines tend to, they hold "vigilante justice" meetings to discuss methods of rectifying the problem, usually involving various methods of violence including murder; said meetings are either Played for Laughs or Played for Drama
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In many of the earlier chapters, the term "non-faceless vehicle" is used instead of Sentient.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- During the strike, Gordon and Henry push two other tender engines off the rails for not conforming to their "tender engines don't shunt" ideology. James, meanwhile, shoves Ruby down an embankment at Maron and calls her a cunt (though it's thankfully censored), and later t-bones Thomas off the rails into a signal box at Knapford when the latter refused to shunt his train. Gordon and Henry are mortified that James would physically assault Ruby, who is depicted as Shrinking Violet Nice Girl, and say that they had agreed not to get physical with the female engines.
- The Knapford Harbor engines may have a very low opinion of James, but that doesn't mean they want him dead. If James is threatened by a third-party such as George or a diesel, they will defend him, no questions asked.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Douglas's driver slaps him across the face when he's having a panic attack about accidentally storing Thomas's special coach with the other coaches.
- Greater Need Than Mine: Upon meeting Oliver, Bear offers to give him the place on Sodor the Fat Controller planned to give Bear. Luckily for Bear, this causes Charles to decide to keep both of them, the latter because of the imminent National Traction Plan that would see all Western hydraulics such as him withdrawn.
- Killed Off for Real: Quite a few engines have been killed off, either in stories or in background material:
- All of the Red Engines (besides James and Eagle) die during World War II. Seven of them are killed or given the Final Firing after an American tanker ship that was loading fuel is torpedoed by a German U-boat, which also sets off gunpowder vans right next to their shed, and Britt (the only female Red Engine) is Driven to Suicide days later by grief and drives herself into the smelter's pit at Barrow-in-Furness.
- Alfred (98462) goes insane and tries to kill Gordon and Henry at Wellsworth with loaded fuel tankers, only for a quick-thinking signalman to switch him into the yard where he blows himself up.
- Cecil (87546) is executed by compulsory Final Firing for criminal negligence when he goes over a failing trestle over the River Hoo. He's then rebuilt as an Inanimate B16, numbered 925. This locomotive, like its real-life counterpart, later gets destroyed along with an A4 during a German air raid.
- Klondike, an LNER C2, also gets executed by Final Firing after being subjected to a Kangaroo Court, first for causing the Flying Kipper incident resulting in Henry's rebuild (Klondike's driver, fireman, and guard were in the brakevan and were killed), then he tries to kill Ruby when she wouldn't fetch some coal for him. Unlike Cecil, he's scrapped, as his class was due for withdrawal anyways.
- George the Steamroller causes a horrific crash at Crosby that leaves many of Ruby's passengers dead, and is given the Final Firing after a trial. His remains are rebuilt as an Inanimate boiler, and is used to saw logs on the Isle of Bren's logging operation. This serves as an in-universe explanation for why George hasn't had a speaking role since the fifth season.
- Leitmotif: For the YouTube adaptation, in addition to canon characters having the same themes, original characters will have their own themes. For example, Tim's theme will be the travelling music from Postman Pat.
- No Indoor Voice: Neville is described as sounding like BRIAN BLESSED!!!!!.
- Not Blood Siblings: Although they are completely different locomotive classes from completely different companies, Ruby and Yang treat each other as surrogate sisters.
- Official Couple:
- Thomas/Emily
- James/Molly
- Stanley/Rosie
- Tim/Ruby
- Original Character: Numerous, to the point the creators have guidelines that potential writers need to follow when creating new characters.
- Characters adapted from RWBY including Ruby (an L&YR Class 2), Yang (an LBSCR H2 Class), Blake (a GWR 4300 Class), Weiss (a GWR 2600 Class), Penny (a BR Class 47), Nora (an LSWR S15 Class), Velvet (a GWR 6400 Class whose real name is Meg), and Aaron (adapted from Adam Taurus, but given the name Aaron to avoid confusion with the W&S character).
- Adora (an LNER P2 Class who carries the nameplates "Heart of Etheria") is based on the titular character of She-Ra.
- Tim and Chloe, a pair of LMS Fowler 4F twins. Tim is BNSF1995's Author Avatar.
- Really, there are many, many original characters. These are just some of them:
- Eight other red engines besides James and Eagle, these being Ringo, George, Michael, Brandon, Alec, Johnny, Britt, and Richard (all named for narrators of the TV series and RWS or important members of the production staff).
- Helen, a BR Class 22 "Baby Warship" who debuted in the "Bye, George!" adaptation
- Lizzie, an LMS Princess Royal Class (her name is an in-joke to the fact that her class was nicknamed "Lizzies" by railfans)
- Mitzi, Myrtle, Beau, and Marilla, all BR Class 43 power cars that came to Sodor after they were replaced on the East Coast Main Line by Class 800 "Azuma" trains. They are Pip and Emma's siblings.
- Jenny, Thomas' only sister and surviving sibling, as well as the only sibling he got along with, the other E2 tank engines being unrepentent jerks
- Hal and Gilbert, a pair of SR Class SL electric multiple units who work on the Peel Godred Branchline and were acquired from the same workshop as Percy. Hal is The Eeyore, while Gilbert is a Deadpan Snarker.
- Higher Sudrian Rail (mentioned under Alternate Universe) is populated entirely by original characters. In addition to the above-mentioned Adora, there's also Elizabeth (based on Catra), Sarah (based on Glimmer), Viney (based on the character of the same name from The Owl House) Luke and Kevin (both based on the creators of Supermarioglitchy4's Super Mario 64 Bloopers), among many others.
- Original characters from other fan works have also found their way in:
- From Wildnorwester: Colin, Lily, Adam, Eric, Peter, Patrick, Iris, Geoff, Caden, and Olivia (Sheffield was replaced by another Austerity tank engine named Quinn, as at the time, Sheffield's model was not compatible with Trainz Railroad Simulator 2019)
- From Thomas1Edward2Henry: Wallace
- From Hufflepuff Batboy: Klondike, Preston (depicted here as a push-pull equipped LBSCR D1 Class instead of an LBSCR A1 Class), Harry, Edwin, Sarah, Archibald, Sandra, Kate (a narrow gauge engine), and Arnold
- Shout-Out:
- In "Heyday of the NWR Part 2", Alfred's monologue about Sodor prospering with Gordon taking his place is similar to Forte's line from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, complete with the lines "No longer important... no longer needed".
- In "Civil War", James goes on a rant that is nearly a word-for-word re-enactment of Arthur's rant from Joker (2019) just before he shoots Murray.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tim is the master of these, managing to scare James straight when the latter was bullying Ruby for defending BoCo.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sir Richard Topham Hatt delivers this to the engines at Knapford Harbor Shed in "A Fowler's Afoul", calling out Tim for pulling a prank on James as petty retaliation for absentmindedly bragging to Ruby, Iris for not speaking up and stopping the prank from happening in the first place (she gets a lesser punishment due to not being involved), and the others (Chloe, Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss) for helping to plan the prank, also calling out the fact they often act like they're the mafia (James even referred to Tim as The Don of the shed) and specifically calling out Blake for slipping back into old habits (referring to her time in the Knights of Steam), and punishes them all accordingly, while bringing in Class 37 diesels from West Coast Railways to cover for the six and Colin from Didcot Railway Center to cover for Iris as Knapford station pilot.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Chapter 50, "Tim and the Barometer", is an adaptation of the Postman Pat special "Postman Pat and the Barometer".
