diff --git a/src/gui/Makefile.am b/src/gui/Makefile.am
index 467521430..70e8264fb 100644
--- a/src/gui/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/gui/Makefile.am
@@ -144,6 +144,8 @@ libgui_la_SOURCES =							\
 	$(lumigui_srcdir)/widgets/timeline/timeline-group-track.hpp	\
 	$(lumigui_srcdir)/widgets/timeline/timeline-clip.cpp		\
 	$(lumigui_srcdir)/widgets/timeline/timeline-clip.hpp		\
+	$(lumigui_srcdir)/widgets/timeline/timeline-layout-helper.cpp	\
+	$(lumigui_srcdir)/widgets/timeline/timeline-layout-helper.hpp	\
 	$(lumigui_srcdir)/model/project.cpp				\
 	$(lumigui_srcdir)/model/project.hpp				\
 	$(lumigui_srcdir)/model/track.cpp				\
diff --git a/src/gui/widgets/timeline-widget.hpp b/src/gui/widgets/timeline-widget.hpp
index 3cdca51e7..c169efb21 100644
--- a/src/gui/widgets/timeline-widget.hpp
+++ b/src/gui/widgets/timeline-widget.hpp
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "timeline/timeline-ibeam-tool.hpp"
 #include "timeline/timeline-group-track.hpp"
 #include "timeline/timeline-clip-track.hpp"
+#include "timeline/timeline-layout-helper.hpp"
 
 #include "../model/sequence.hpp"
 
@@ -276,6 +277,9 @@ protected:
   std::map<boost::shared_ptr<model::Track>,
     boost::shared_ptr<timeline::Track> >
     trackMap;
+    
+  // Helper Classes
+  timeline::TimelineLayoutHelper layoutHelper;
 
   // View State
   timeline::TimelineViewWindow viewWindow;
diff --git a/src/gui/widgets/timeline/timeline-layout-helper.cpp b/src/gui/widgets/timeline/timeline-layout-helper.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..28dfcf25b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gui/widgets/timeline/timeline-layout-helper.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+  timeline-layout-helper.cpp  -  Implementation of the timeline
+  layout helper class
+ 
+  Copyright (C)         Lumiera.org
+    2008,               Joel Holdsworth <joel@airwebreathe.org.uk>
+ 
+  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+  modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+  published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
+  License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ 
+  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ 
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+  Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+ 
+* *****************************************************/
+
+#include <boost/foreach.hpp>
+
+#include "timeline-layout-helper.hpp"
+
+using namespace Gtk;
+using namespace std;
+using namespace boost;
+
+namespace gui {
+namespace widgets {
+namespace timeline {
+
+}   // namespace timeline
+}   // namespace widgets
+}   // namespace gui
diff --git a/src/gui/widgets/timeline/timeline-layout-helper.hpp b/src/gui/widgets/timeline/timeline-layout-helper.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3bb48e800
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gui/widgets/timeline/timeline-layout-helper.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+  timeline-layout-helper.hpp  -  Declaration of the timeline
+  layout helper class
+ 
+  Copyright (C)         Lumiera.org
+    2008,               Joel Holdsworth <joel@airwebreathe.org.uk>
+ 
+  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+  modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+  published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
+  License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ 
+  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ 
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+  Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+ 
+*/
+/** @file timeline-layout-helper.cpp
+ ** This file contains the definition of the layout helpeer class
+ */
+
+#ifndef TIMELINE_LAYOUT_HELPER_HPP
+#define TIMELINE_LAYOUT_HELPER_HPP
+
+#include "../../gtk-lumiera.hpp"
+
+namespace gui {
+namespace widgets {
+namespace timeline {
+
+/**
+ * A helper class for the TimelineWidget. TimelineLayoutHelper
+ * is a class which calculates the layout of tracks in the timeline
+ * track tree.
+ */
+class TimelineLayoutHelper
+{
+
+};
+
+}   // namespace timeline
+}   // namespace widgets
+}   // namespace gui
+
+#endif // TIMELINE_LAYOUT_HELPER_HPP