66415 & 59101 Hungerford Common 9 May 2022

Quite a load for a Class 66! 66415 You Are Never Alone has 42 loaded stone wagons in tow, as well as a dead 59101 Village of Whatley, as it passes Hungerford Common on 9 May 2022 with the late running 7A09 07:12 Merehead Quarry to Acton Mendip Rail 'jumbo' stone train. The failure of the 59 resulted in an hour late departure, but as the train did not have to wait in Woodborough loop, it was only 16 minutes late here. In view of the 4,000+ tonnes load, another Class 59 would have been the preferred rescue loco, or at the very least one of Freightliner's low geared Class 66/6s, but obviously 66415 was all that was available. In spite of this, it seemed to be doing OK, and reached Acton only 8 minutes behind time.