Ichihiro was pulling into the big station, he pulled his usual return train from Eientei, his smooth running caught the attention of his driver.
"You run so well, you could move just by yourself!"
Ichihiro did not realize that his driver was joking and became conceited.
"My driver says I don't need her!" he said.
"yakamashii jakamashi~!" replied Ahiru.
"You need your driver to well...drive you! You can't move without her."
"So?!"
"I think what Ahiru is trying to say is, that having a driver is a must." said Kiyoshi.
The two engines' words fell on deaf ears as Ichihiro was conceited still. He spent the night at the Human Village yards with the two other tank engines. The next morning, the firelighter came and lit the fires inside the engines' fireboxes. Ichihiro woke up feeling his boiler warm up.
"I'll show them, I'll move by myself and I'll whistle and at them and blow steam at them to show that I'm right."
Then, he started to move. He didn't know that the firelighter was a human and was careless enough to touch his controls, Ichihiro didn't know about this. He tried to whistle and wheesh steam at them, but he couldn't!
"Help!" he cried.
He couldn't stop! Soon he gained some speed and was rolling down the yard. At the end of one of the sidings was a house, the stationmaster had recently moved there. Ichihiro soon noticed he was going straight towards the house. He had no driver to brake and whistle a warning. He braced himself for the crash and shut his eyes. The stationmaster and his wife were about to have breakfast.
The house rocked and shook as Ichihiro crashed through the buffer across several feet of dirt and into the house. Shattered plaster and splintered wood were everywhere. The stationmaster and his wife were furious.
"Look at what you did to our breakfast!" his wife raged.
"Do you know how long it took to get this perfect! Now I'll have to make some more!"
She pounded the wall in frustration and more plaster and roofing tiles fell on him. Ichihiro was miserable.
Workmen laid temporary rails through the yard and Hachirou was coupled to Ichihiro using long chains.
"Don't worry Ichihiro! I'll have you out within the minute."
Hachirou pulled Ichihiro back onto the rails. Ichihiro's front was badly damaged, his buffers were bent in different directions. When Ichihiro was pulled back to where he started, the Scarlet Controller was waiting for him.
"Your in a lot of trouble you baka! Once you're sent to the works, you'll be there for a very very very long time!" she said.
Ichihiro felt guilty and looked down at his busted buffer beam.
"When you're away, your work will be covered by a diesel railcar."
"A d-d-d-diesel, sir?" Ichihiro coughed out some plaster dust.
"Yes. Diesels always stay in their shed until they are wanted and they never go gallivanting off to breakfast in human houses." finished the Scarlet Controller.
Those words resonated deeply within Ichihiro's self.