Thomas the Tank Engine expected to make a full recovery after being rescued from drug den

After years of being imprisoned in a drug den, Thomas the Tank Engine is breathing the fresh air of freedom again. But there are a few emotional and physical scars to heal before he can return to the playground. The three-metre blue wooden train had for years been local children's playground favourite at Goulburn in southern New South Wales, Australia.



The missing Thomas the Tank Engine, which was washed away in floods almost three years ago, has been found by police during a search warrant of a suspected drug lab in the east of the city. The popular kids’ play equipment used to sit at the Goulburn Historic Waterworks Museum on the banks of the Wollondilly River but was last seen floating down the river during the floods of December, 2010. Goulburn detectives located the bright blue engine, measuring 1m by 3m, during a search warrant at a house in Eastgrove last week.

Police had executed the search warrant on suspicion the house was being used to manufacture drugs but they instead found Thomas in a carport. NSW Police issued a statement saying Thomas was ‘‘currently assisting Goulburn police with their inquiries into his whereabouts for the past three years’’ He was ‘‘expected to make a full recovery and will receive a fresh coat of paint by council staff at the depot before he rejoins his steam train friends at the local Waterworks in a couple of weeks’’.



Goulburn Acting Local Area Commander Superintendent Evan Quarmby said it was great Thomas could be returned to the local community and the case resolved.“My officers did a great job executing the search warrant and inquiries are continuing into that case. As a bonus, we solved the three-year mystery surrounding Thomas,” Superintendent Quarmby said. Following a number of unsuccessful searches, the disappearance of Thomas became one of Goulburn's biggest mysteries, with memories of the engine haunting many over the succeeding three years.