The layout is based on the junction at the Widnes end of the former St Helens Railway where the controlling signal box Widnes No.1, was known locally as ‘Vine Yard’. The line closed in the early 1980s and was
converted to a dual carriageway. For the purpose of our model we have changed history and taken the liberty of keeping the line open and assumed some of the other railways in the North West were never built. This promotes the line to a major diversionary/feeder route for Liverpool to the North and South West Coast, hence you will see a wide variety of stock operating dating from the 2007/2008 period. A chord has also been added to connect with the line from Ditton Junction to Warrington thus completing our myth. Due to the importance of the route, signalling in the area has been upgraded to colour lights with the once complicated layout being reduced to the stepped junction typical of modernised layouts. The layout features full Digitrax DCC control with ‘soft panels’ running Railroad & Co. Tortoise point motors are controlled via NCE ‘Switchit’ accessory decoders and the signalling system via a Digitrax SE8C signal decoder.
