Sodor Dairy/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
The Sodor Dairy is a fictional dairy near Crosby on the Island of Sodor created by Paul Larson.

Though the dairy was occasionally mentioned throughout the eight series, it's first and only appearance that series was in the episode Too Hot for Thomas, which first aired in 2004. Its last appearance was in the twenty-fourth series episode Cleo's First Snow, which was released in 2021.

Gauge 1 set
The Sodor Dairy was originally built for the eight series.

Close-up sets
close-up sets for small portions of the dairy were built to be used for scenes involving the close-up scale figures.

CGI sets
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Sodor Dairy was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. The model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

According to Greg Tiernan, the CGI models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

Test set
A CGI version of the Sodor Dairy appeared in the CGI test of the episode Thomas and the Stinky Cheese. It was created by Stardust Pictures in 2008.