Mystery location - help needed

[Colin1501]

Is anyone able to identify the location in this image, please? It shows a pair of Alphaline liveried Class 158 units, headed by 158 746, no destination blind visible. There is housing in the background, and an apparently unused - or little used - line going off to the left behind the train. The only other clue is that the line appears to be mechanically signalled - there is a signal wire run visible alongside the train. No date information either, I'm afraid - could be late 1990s or early 2000s.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

ColinView attachment -041.jpg

 

[Railsigns]

Valley, Anglesey.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Valley, Anglesey.

I concur. Are there still the Direct Rail Services' freight sidings branching off the 'Up Main' line in the area (which I think can just be seen in background in the OP's photo)?

 

[yoyothehobo]

I was going to say it looks like the line is running NW-SE in a near coastal location in the west (palm tree) which is quite windy (blown trees), the houses are stonewashed and painted and the sun is coming from the south west. The roof tiles are all slate suggesting wales and the dry stone walls are not limestone and appear to be some harder wearing lichen loving rock.

I did eventually find it in Valley.

 

[Colin1501]

Thanks for all the helpful replies - much appreciated. It wasn't where I was looking at all!

Colin

 

[Mcr Warrior]

One further comment... Given the particular livery that unit 158746 is sporting, does that help narrow down the range of years in which the photo was most likely taken?

 

[30907]

One further comment... Given the particular livery that unit 158746 is sporting, does that help narrow down the range of years in which the photo was most likely taken?

1995-2004 on a quick Google.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

1995-2004 on a quick Google.

That essentially ties in with what the OP (= @Colin1501) reckoned.

 

[sprinterguy]

1995-2004 on a quick Google.

Can narrow it down to a shorter time period than that: 158746 received the Wales and West livery seen here in spring 2000, shortly after transfer from Scotland, and had Wessex Trains maroon applied in place of the blue elements by spring 2002.

158745 was the only other unit to wear this particular livery variant, so that immediately identifies the second unit in the photo. The livery looks freshly applied and the two units surely can't have worked together often, so I suspect this was taken not long after the two were reliveried in 2000.

The gorse is flowering but the trees are bereft of leaves, which also suggests early spring to me.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Good sleuthing @sprinterguy. So the location is in North Wales just South East of Valley station on Anglesey. The date is very possibly Spring 2000. The unit is 158746 and likely paired with 158745. And it's adorned in a fairly short lived Wales and West livery, the franchise itself ending in 2000/2001?

One other thing... Would I right in saying that the trackwork to the sidings, which can just be seen in the background of the OP's photo, possibly hasn't been used since 2019, when DRS stopped hauling nuclear waste flasks from Wylfa to Sellafield.

 

[sprinterguy]

Good sleuthing @sprinterguy.

No problem, I do enjoy an opportunity to apply the old brain cells to a bit of research. I'm impressed by the rapid identification of the location - other than "somewhere on a Welsh main line" I was at a bit of a loss.

And yeah, the Wales and West franchise ended mid-October 2001, being superceded by Wales & Borders and Wessex Trains.

 

[Colin1501]

Thanks again to everyone for excellent detective work and enormously helpful replies, not just on location, but also narrowing down the date and the identity of the rear unit! Much appreciated!

 

[krus_aragon]

One other thing... Would I right in saying that the trackwork to the sidings, which can just be seen in the background of the OP's photo, possibly hasn't been used since 2019, when DRS stopped hauling nuclear waste flasks from Wylfa to Sellafield.

DRS are still running periodical route retention trains. There was one on the 8th of September (described at http://www.nwrail.org.uk/nw2309b.htm ); I think that's the most recent run.