Air date: April 16th, 1995 (US,) October 17th, 1995 (UK)
Adapted from: Duke the Lost Engine, "Sleeping Beauty"
With the line closed down and abandoned, Duke is left in his shed to sleep until he is needed again. Decades pass, until one day in the not-too-distant past, a team of people approach the Fat Controller with the intention of finding Duke. The railway has long since been retaken by nature, but the team has maps that will lead them to Duke.
They pinpoint the site of an old Mid-Sodor station as Duke's most likely resting place and set off in search of him. Days go by without any luck, but the team refuses to give up, going higher and higher into the mountains.
Not long after finding and reaching the old station site, the search ends, quite by accident, when one of the team members winds up falling through the age-weakened roof of Duke's shed. Duke wakes up and asks the men if they are vandals, but they assure him that they are there to rescue him and reunite him with Stuart and Falcon. After digging him out of the shed, they take Duke to his new home, the Skarloey Railway. Falcon and Stuart - now Sir Handel and Peter Sam - reunite with their old friend, who complained that they woke him up and started to tell them about the good old days.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Cobweb of Disuse: Duke is covered in cobwebs as a result of spending decades sleeping in a shed that was buried by an overgrowth of vegetation.
- Composite Character:
- The Fat Controller takes the role of the Small Controller from Duke the Lost Engine in their search for Duke.
- Skarloey's train was used to represent Bert's train from the original story and also he was used to represent an Arlesdale Railway engine despite not being introduced until they were in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
- Floorboard Failure: A rescuer searching for Duke unknowingly stands on the rotted roof of his shed, which collapses under his weight, causing him to fall inside and find Duke.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: The episode ends with the engines cheering the happy ending to Thomas' story before dozing off.
- Happy Ending: The story ends on a happy note when Duke gets a new home on the Skarloey Railway with his old friends, Stuart and Falcon.
- Insult of Endearment: After Stuart and Falcon leave, Duke says "impudent scallywags" with a smile on his face.
- Previously on…: Because this is the second part of the story, Thomas first briefly retells the previous episode for clarity.
- Rip Van Winkle: Duke spends several decades sleeping in his shed. He is awakened when one of the rescuers searching for him falls on him after the roof he is standing on collapses under his weight.
- Stock Footage: Footage from "Granpuff" is used.
- Title Drop: When the rescuers find Duke asleep in his shed, they say, "We found him! We found our sleeping beauty!".
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Duck isn't back at Tidmouth Sheds to hear how the story of Duke ends, and his absence isn't noted by anyone who was also present.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Thomas continues his story about Duke.
