The layout includes  Preston Station, a depot just outside the Station and a mill based on one of the Cotton mills in Kirkham, which has been knocked down but existed in the 1960's. Our layout is 4 main lines, split up into 2 main lines. They each go over the Lancaster Canal and are briefly connected in the station. Hopefully, at the end of the project, all the lines will have an overhead electrification (catenery).  This will be home made at the station and point work and along the fast main lines Sommerfeldt due to the high strength of the product, this means we can include AC electric trains like the class 86 and class 90.

We will hopefully build each platform apart from the REs platfrom due to lack of space, this is what each of the playforms operate in real life:

·  Platform 1 runs branch line services to Blackpool North and Blackpool South. Ormskirk services terminate here.

·  Platform 2 runs branch services to Liverpool and Manchester, and also TransPennine links on the East Lancashire Line.

·  Platform 3 is used almost exclusively for Virgin trains northwards to Lancaster, Carlisle and Scotland. Local branch services to Lancaster, Barrow and Morecambe also use this platform. At the far south end of Platform 3 is "3c", used mainly for services to Liverpool Lime Street.

·  Platform 4 is used for Virgin trains to London Euston on the WCML. It is also used for Manchester bound services. As with Platform 3, there is a "4c" at the far south end of platform 4. Its use is decreasing by the year. Neither of these bay platforms have functioning display screens.

·  Platforms 5 and 6 are used for a mixture of southern and northern services, both Virgn and local branch lines.

·  Platform 7 does not strictly exist but it is numbered as "7" although it has not been used for passenger services at any time in recent memory

1.       Base boards

2.      Track Work

3.       Electrics (points, control and signalling)

4.       Scenery

5.        Overhead electrification

6.        Construction of Preston (need the catanery in to do this)

We are hoping to use Peco long switch point motors because we have pinned down the track and to save taking up the track and drilling a big hole, we are just going to carefully pry up the points and drill through. We are going to use Eckon signals and use the kit from to make our own overhead signalling as seen at Preston Station. We will probably (as writing this) use Gauge masters Prodigy Advance DCC because of its good reviews from various railway magazines. The construction of the Station it self will be hard due to the catanery because we need top build a footbridge over the wires and then a roof over the top of that. But I hope that it will be a good representation of Preston Station.

We have a mix of rolling stock from Hornby and Bachmann. We want to run a varied livery of trains but mainly since Preston Station is owned by Virgin Trains, we will want to run a mix of stock in that livery. We do have a Dapol Pendolino that will hopefully be replaced be the new hornby one. We have a Bachmann Super Voyager and should hopefully be joined by the normal Voyager, also from Hornby is a class 90 in virgin livery hauling mk3 coaches, it is also swapped sometimes with the HST units. I won't say much more because it would ruin the locomotive section!