Since Stanley had arrived, his only duty had been the quarrymen's trains, as well as mine trains down to the port. That was the only duty the Manager felt he could trust him with. He hated it: it was boring stopping at every station to let workers in. And he hated the mines and the quarry. He especially hated the fact that the Manager found a way to at least curb his self-driving: every night, somebody would lock his brakes, preventing him from activating them even if he managed to anger himself into firing up.

Stuart and Mighty Mac, in contrast, did whatever they were asked to do without complaining. Especially Mighty Mac, who performed so well the Manager began to add additional unnamed passenger services. He also had more coaches built, particularly a few Pullmans. These didn't have gangways, but were still quite comfortable. These new observation cars were used for the Boat Trains, as well as the Picnic, which brought in a lot of tourist traffic.

Seeing this made Stanley very, very resentful. He felt he deserved those coaches more than the other engines. I'm sorry to say his bullying became worse as a result, and he began finding other ways to allow himself to drive alone, such as shaking them loose when he was in motion. In fact, he began riding roughly to ensure his crew would fall out.

"Oi! Duke!" he shouted one morning. "Stand aside and let a modern engine take over!"

"I'll move over when you start behaving yourself," Duke said firmly.

"I'll make you, then!" and he tried to shove him off the rails. Duke, knowing this, reversed before Stanley pushed his way through the points. "I'll teach you to dodge me!" And he reversed roughly into the George England.

"Wow, I didn't know you were eager to double-head with me," chuckled Duke. "Shall we take the Picnic together?"

Stanley was furious. He only wanted to cause Duke pain. Yet somehow, Duke, along with Stuart and Falcon, refused to let themselves fall to his demands. He was about to angrily retort, when the guard blew his whistle.

"Well, looks like the guard answered for us," said Duke. "Come along, Stanley: allow me to show you how to run passenger trains."

Stanley growled as Duke pushed him along.

Throughout the journey, he tried everything he could to bring the train to a halt. He tried applying his brakes, but Duke made sure his brake pipe was attached to Stanley's, preventing that from happening. It was made worse by Duke constantly telling him how passengers needed to be treated gently, unlike trucks who occasionally did need to be bumped, as well as where and when to stop.

Stanley had given up for the time being when both stopped to let the passengers off in a field. "Peep peep!" whistled Duke as they departed. "Please don't be late when we come back, or we might miss the boat, and that will never do!"

"I don't see what the big deal is, it's just a boat!" grumbled Stanley.

"Oh, but there is a big deal. You see, this ferry connects to…"

"Blah blah blah blah blah!" interrupted Stanley. "I don't need an old geyser like you telling me anything!"

"Is that so?" said Duke with a smirk. "Very well: show me."

"What?"

"Show me how capable you are. If you don't need the guidance of this old buzzard, then surely you know what to do! Hehe."

"Very well, I will," said Stanley. Duke kept his brakes off and shut off steam, leaving all the work to Stanley.

Just like he suspected, Stanley didn't know what to do: he skipped many of the request stops made by the passengers, instead going all the way to King Orry's Bridge. Stanley made sure to stop at each station along the way, but not the request stops. Passengers complained bitterly, and all throughout, Duke said nothing.

"Well. Seems the old buzzard WAS right," said a coach. "He doesn't know shit."

Stanley's humiliation ended when some kids began throwing eggs at him at King Orry's Bridge, which Duke greatly enjoyed.

"Why didn't you tell me we skipped some stops?!" shouted Stanley.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you didn't need an old geyser like me to tell you anything." Duke answered. "If you'd asked for my guidance, on the other hand…"

Stanley uncoupled and left, crying with rage and humiliation. While Duke just stood there laughing.

Afterwards, he took some trucks down to Arlesdale so they could be repaired. He found Falcon there as well, being examined after accidentally damaging his firebars.

"You seem to be in a jolly mood today, Granpuff," he said.

"Indeed I am," replied Duke, and he told Falcon about his adventure with Stanley.

"So, the American bastard did need you to tell him stuff after all," chuckled Falcon when Duke finished. "So much for self-driving, huh?"

"I wouldn't really say self-driving is bad," admitted Duke, "just the way he uses it. And I won't lie, I was expecting him to skip every station, all along of he did so last time. Perhaps the Picnic will suffer from losing part of its reputation, but I won't deny: seeing Stanley humiliate himself like that was worth it."

As it would turn out, the Manager managed to save the Picnic's reputation by claiming Duke was ill that day and the new engine did the work for him. Duke was relieved: deep down, he didn't want his special train to lose its shine, as he felt joy from doing such an important job.

The Manager was not pleased with Stanley, who kept blaming Duke for it all.

"I don't see how: you did tell me you didn't need my help," reminded Duke.

"GRRR! You insolent…."

"Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!" interrupted Tim.

"Son of a bitch! Fuck off!" roared Stanley.

As punishment, Stanley had his reverser removed for a while, preventing him from going anywhere. The other engines made sure he never forgot what he said to Duke, which angered Stanley more and more.

Eventually, he decided physical pain could bring the railway "in order", and began bumping engines off once more. He kept forgetting, however, that he could only go where the rails went, so every attempt he made to pull a passenger train only ended with him going to a mine, all the junctions having wyes built to make sure he didn't miss them.

Even worse for him: Duke either always dodged his attacks, or simply shrugged them off. At last, he decided to give up on Duke for now and decided to target Stuart. This ended quickly after he bumped him once.

"Wow! I didn't know you felt that way about me!" chuckled Stuart. "Shall we make it official?"

Weirded out by this, Stanley said nothing, and rolled off.

His next target was Mighty Mac, but that proved to be a horrible idea after the Double Fairlie beat Stanley up.. So he went after Falcon. Falcon made sure to dodge every attack Stanley made. The one engine Stanley managed to get was Tim, and he was brutal: Jim made sure to avoid Stanley after the Baldwin pushed him off. So, Stanley derailed Tim, and left him there, bent and bruised, in the side of a track running through a forest. Tim was found and rerailed, but Stanley was just getting started.

It all came to a head when one morning, at King Orry's Bridge, Falcon had woken up ready to take out the Boat Train. Suddenly, he was pushed aside!

"It's my train now, Buster!" shouted Stanley, and he banged the saloons.

It didn't end there: Falcon ended up on his side, and as for Stanley's crew, he made sure to run them over before they could stop him.

"Hey, Falcon, what's that…OH, MY GOD! SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" cried Tim.

Stanley made good time with the Boat Train, even without a crew. The only problem: he didn't stop at any stations after King Orry's Bridge. As he passed Falcon's Leap, he felt something odd with his boiler.

"That's odd: my boiler feels dry... Eh, it's nothing." But he was wrong: as he travelled along, the dryness suddenly grew worse. It was only when he passed Arlesdale that he realised he was out of water.

"I better drop my fire," he said. But he couldn't: he never learned how! Suddenly, his fusible plugs went out.

"Uh, shit!" grumbled Stanley. He then cried in pain as his boiler exploded. The sound could be heard for miles, almost shaking the entire valley! Mighty Mac was at the Green with the Parliamentary when they heard the explosion.

"Somebody's in trouble!" shouted Mighty. "We must go help them!"

Without waiting for Mac to reply, he was uncoupled and raced to the scene.

He was most shocked by what he saw: there was Stanley, four coaches behind him, but his boiler was gone. His smokebox was still intact, but Stanley himself, well…

"Jesus christ! How'd this happen?!"

Stanley couldn't answer. He was pushed to Arlesdale and uncoupled from the coaches. After this, Mighty Mac shunted him into the works and left him to return to his own train. Falcon was pushed next to him that afternoon. He was ready to give Stanley an earful, but the state he was in made him lose his words. The Manager, on the other hand, hadn't lost any words.

"Well now, Stanley," he said sternly, "this is why you always need a crew: you may be able to drive yourself, but without a crew, you can't drop your fire. Perhaps this is what you need to learn that self-driving is very dangerous when done all the time."

Stanley suddenly found his voice.

"Bullshit! Nobody ever taught me how to drop my own fire! It wasn't my fault!"

The manager smoked one of Stanley's cigars to spite him, before answering.

"I don't see why you think self-driving is so efficient," he said. "All you've shown us is that engines who self-drive are nothing but troublemakers. IF I see you without a crew again…"

"Sir…there's a problem…Stanley may have killed his own crew," Falcon cut in, and he told him about Stanley running over them. The Manager was absolutely furious.

"You can't prove it wasn't an accident!" retorted Stanley. "That's what all deaths done to people by engines are called anyway!"

"Let's see, Stanley…does your brain work?"

"I don't have a brain, no engine does! You know that perfectly well! Besides, if I did, I wouldn't be talking to you if it wasn't working!"

The Manager finally lost all patience he'd had for Stanley.

"If you can't behave, I'm leaving you here, and using you as parts for everyone else until you decide to be a better engine!"

"Go ahead: my parts don't make good spares for these Brits anyway."

"YOU. ARE. BRITISH!"

"British?! Pah! I was built in America, so that makes me American!"

"Well," said the Manager, "since you insist your parts can't be used, I'll just leave you here in your damaged state until we really need you. I'll see if I can get in contact with…"

"WAIT!" Falcon shouted. "What about Albert MKIII?! If we leave Stanley here, he'll influence the young engine when he's finished!"

"You're right, Falcon," the Manager conceded. "Let's throw Stanley into the sea."

"WHAT?! You can't do that!" Stanley protested.

"I can and I will, because I own you," retorted the Manager. "Don't worry, you won't be too deep. If you're really worried, however, I think we have some black water over here…"

"NO! PLEASE! I CAN'T DRINK BLACK WATER! DON'T KILL ME, I PROMISE NEVER TO DRIVE WITHOUT A CREW EVER AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!"

Stanley began crying. The Manager crossed his arms.

"Very well, Stanley, I think you've learned your lesson," he said. "I'll still keep you in here for a few days, I have to anyway: it will take a long time to get you a new boiler. But now I hope you've learned not to do anymore stunts like this."

Falcon was found to not be too damaged and took the Manager home.

"Do you really think Stanley learned his lesson?" he asked.

"I have my doubts," admitted the Manager. "The only reason he said he wouldn't was definitely to avoid being thrown into the sea or given black water. That being said, considering the fact he was never taught how to drop his own fire, I don't think he will be driving himself again for a while."

Falcon fell silent, hoping the Manager was right. He asked the Manager to put him on mine trains so he could think about Stanley. Tim agreed to take his turn on the Boat Train. Other than that, he was silent for the rest of the day.

When night fell, he joined Duke, Jim, and Mighty Mac at Bridge Street sheds.

"Penny for your thoughts, Falcon?" Duke asked.

"You heard about what happened with Stanley, right Granpuff?" asked Falcon.

"Funny, I was just telling them about it," said Mighty.

"It probably would've happened even if he was following the schedule," said Duke. "Without hands, he can't fill up on coal and water."

"It's not that," admitted Falcon. "Stanley said he'd stop, but…how do I know he isn't saying that just to avoid being pushed into the sea?"

"It's a good question, Falcon," admitted Duke. "I have no doubt he most certainly is. How does Manager feel?"

"Manager actually agreed with that as well," said Falcon. "That said, he did say Stanley won't be trying to self-drive for a while."

"Then I suppose that's all we can hope for," said Duke. "If you're really concerned he hasn't really changed, perhaps I'll ask the Manager to give Stanley a test."

"What kind of test?" asked Mac. "He's not a student in school you know."

"A test of character, one that doesn't need a classroom," Duke answered. "All you need is to take a certain action, one that proves your character. Which action you take determines what your character is."

"Well, what can we test him with?" asked Falcon. "He detests mine trains and if we put him on the Parliamentary or Workmen's Train, what's stopping him from going onto a different passenger train? And even if he did stop self-driving, he could still manipulate a crew into putting him onto one of those."

"You're worried about him influencing the new Albert, aren't you?"

Falcon sighed: Duke knew him all too well.

"I wouldn't worry too much," reassured Duke. "The Manager and I will make sure Albert MKIII will never be under Stanley's influence. And even if we fail, well, you can't say we never tried, can you?"

"No, I guess not," replied Falcon. "Even so, new Albert or not, I still don't trust Stanley."

"Aye, me neither," agreed Duke. "His behaviour would never suit His Grace. As for what to test him with, perhaps one of those Pullmans: he'll have to be extra-gentle with those."

Jim, who had been silent, spoke up.

"I don't think working with Pullmans will prove anything," he said. "Like you said, Duke, all engines need to be extra-gentle with those. What we need is to stage a breakdown on a loop: if he helps that engine, it proves he's changed and learned his lesson. If not, well…"

"That actually could work Jim!" Falcon realised. "But we'll have to wait until he gets a new boiler."

"Why a loop though?" asked Mac.

"Well, think about it," said Mighty. "If the pretend breakdown occurred in the middle of a single-track section, he'd have to help them: the engine will be blocking Stanley's way too. On a loop, Stanley can choose to either help that engine or abandon them."

"And how's stalling on a loop going to help? Other trains could be blocked too."

"At least a loop allows other trains to pass," said Duke. "It won't cause too much disruption. I'll speak to the Manager about this all the same: if he knows, it'll mean passengers can be informed about any delays to the timetable, as well as the schedule being adjusted, but not too much: can't give Stanley any hints."

"So who should be the engine who fakes breaking down?" asked Mac.

"We'll worry about that when Stanley is back in service, Mac," said Duke. "For now, let's get some sleep: we've got a busy day tomorrow."

Next day, Falcon began to shunt some first class coaches, including a passenger brake van. While focusing on his work, he wasn't really all that focused: he was still worried about Stanley, admittedly.

"Is there a reason why you're going so slow?" one of the coaches asked.

"It's Stanley," replied Falcon.

"Oh, that rude American hillbilly!" scoffed the coach.

"Hey, show some respect!" Falcon snapped. "Stanley may be crude, but he's not a hillbilly!"

"Might as well be with all his roughness," scoffed the coach.

"What's a hillbilly?" asked the brake van.

While this was going on, Duke and Jim both talked to the Manager about the character test.

"That is indeed a good point," said the Manager when they finished. "A fake breakdown is indeed what could prove if Stanley actually changed or is just using whatever excuse he can find to avoid getting taken out of service. I'll make a note of that and make arrangements once Stanley gets his new boiler."

The train was soon ready, consisting of mostly bogie first class coaches, but also two Ashbury-style four wheelers. Mighty Mac volunteered to take it. That, however, is another story.