The railroad was very large. There were multiple stations, a harbor, a coal mine, and a logging camp. Any railroad of large enough size would need a controller. The controller of the line was named Gary Thompson, but the engines simply called him The Brass Hat. The engines were fond of The Brass Hat, but enjoyed making fun of him when he wasn't around. 

Arnold sat in a siding. He was filling his tank with water, as a smart looking car parked next to him. The controller stepped out, beaming with joy.

“Hello there sir!” Arnold said, unusually happy, “Is this your new car sir?”

“It is,” the controller replied, “It's brand new. I thought I should treat myself after this year.”

“You deserve it sir,” Arnold chirped, “And we engines deserve a break.”
“Maybe a little maintenance,” The controller replied, “We’ll have to get started.”
“Thank you sir,” Arnold said, “Who shall be getting maintenance first?”
“Steven,” The controller said, “He needs it the most. You’ll be given maintenance last, since you’re mostly operational.”

Arnold’s mood quickly changed. He felt like he needed maintenance, even though he didn’t.

“You do have a job today,” The controller piped up, “It's important to. The logging camp has a damaged line of track.”
“I need to bring the workmen?” Arnold asked.

“Correct!” The controller, “Go collect the coaches from the yard.”
“Yes sir,” Arnold said as he left the siding.

Steven sat at the platform with Arnold’s train. Arnold was grumpy, and didn’t want to pull his train.

“That old brass hat,” Arnold said, “He cares more about his car then his engines. I’m in need of maintenance, not you.”

“Well one of my axel’s is rusty,” Steven replied, “That could be very dangerous.”

“It couldn’t be that bad,” Arnold said, “All of my gears are worn. It’s truly dangerous. If one of my gears broke, I’d be uncontrollable.”

“Well you’ll probably have maintenance next,” Steven replied, “He’s going in order of who needs it most, and if my axle breaks I’ll be stuck where I was left.”

“You’d be repaired,” Arnold said, “So would I. I need the repairs sooner though, so I should be first.”

“If anything should be repaired,” the controller said, settling the dispute, “it should be the logging camp repairs. If you’re going to complain however, you’ll be next on the list.”

“Yes sir,” Arnold said as he left.

Arnold arrived at the logging camp at around noon. The track was covered in logs, so the damage couldn’t be seen. 

“It’s going to be a lot of work,” said a logger, “It’ll take until sundown for you to finish up.”

“I guess you’ll need someone to take you guys home,” said a workman, “Arnold here has nothing better to do, he’ll bring you to the big station to bring the rest of you home.”

“But sir,” Arnold said, “Don’t I have to stay here?”

“No, you just have to pick us up,” the workman replied, “Now let’s get to work.”

“We don't have anything to turn you around, the turntable is up the line a bit,” The logger replied.

“We can’t turn you around anywhere else until we get to the big station,” Arnold’s driver said, “Beaut doesn’t have a turntable or loop, so you'll just have to reverse.”

Arnold didn’t like going backwards, but didn’t feel like arguing. The loggers got into the coaches, and Arnold took them away. “Foolish gandy dancers,” Arnold whispered as he reversed.

Arnold was approaching the station, and thought it was time to brake. Arnold however, couldn’t. 

“Something is wrong,” Arnold said.

“Try harder,” his driver replied.

“I am,” Arnold cried, “My brakes aren’t working.”

“Then we certainly have a problem,” the driver replied, “I’ll go tell the loggers to get in the back coach.”

His steam was reduced, and the safety valve was enabled. Arnold started slowing down, but not enough. The controller was sitting in his office. He was watching as Edgar left the station, and was about to go back to working when Arnold came rushing in too quickly.

“Change the points!” Arnold called, “I can’t stop!”

The points were switched, and Arnold went into a siding. His front coach bounced off the track, and crushed the controller's car. The other coach derailed, along with Arnold. The controller ran over and yelled at Arnold.

“You stupid engine,” The controller said, “You didn’t stop!”

“I couldn’t sir,” Arnold said, “My brakes failed.”

“You should have turned around, or at least went to the front of the train.”
“We couldn’t” The driver said, “Arnold’s front coupling is broken.”

“I guess I should have given you maintenance then,” The controller said, “We’ll get this repaired, but it’ll take some time.”

“Yes sir,” Arnold said, feeling sorry for himself.