I’ve always been a big fan of Thomas the Tank Engine as a kid. I remember watching the show when I was younger and being absolutely fascinated by it. So, when I came across a mention of a lost Thomas the Tank Engine broadcast from 1953, I was immediately intrigued and decided to do some more research. I soon made a post on it in here ( https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/woe0ft/fully_lost_a_lost_attempt_at_making_a_tv_show/ ) which detailed what I’d found out.

But after writing that post, I became even more motivated to find out more about this lost broadcast. So, in September, I decided to reach out to the BBC Written Archives to see if they had any more information on it. And to my surprise, they replied that they actually do own some documents from the lost broadcast!

It was incredible for me to think that after all these years, there are still some traces of this lost broadcast remaining. I immediately asked them how I could get my hands on those documents, and they told me that in order to book a visit to the written archives, I’d have to meet some criteria. Unfortunately, I didn’t meet the criteria. So, for a long time, I just let it be. At least I was happy that I’d been able to find some information on it.

Recently, however, something which I can only describe as a miracle happened: I stumbled across a BBC magazine from February 2021 which contained an article about the lost broadcast! The article talked about how the BBC had tried to adapt the Thomas the Tank Engine books into a TV show, but ultimately failed. But even more importantly, the article contained an image of one of the model props that was going to be used for the broadcast! It was an incredible feeling to finally see a picture from the lost broadcast, after all these years of research. I immediately posted the picture on Twitter, and it got an overwhelming amount of likes from Thomas the Tank Engine fandom. It’s been an incredible journey for me, and I’m so happy that I’ve been able to share my findings with other fans of the show.

https://twitter.com/fan100\_thomas/status/1584077420214517760?s=20&t=FsOJq8r0jx6E-eGkKfQIAg

It’s amazing how something from a broadcast which was lost for over 70 years can still be found if you look hard enough.