Bakersfield is the “lowest” level of SVL, and sits beneath Bayshore. It connects to the rest of the layout via a steep 2.5% ruling grade to Dodge, and in turn Dayton.

Bakersfield is the source and/or destination for a lot of SVL’s modern trains. The fact that this area is a large staging yard is only part of the story. The entire yard is built on a movable platform in order to allow cars to be spotted without reaching into tight quarters. Not satisfied with manually rolling the yard in and out, some of the members of SVL decided that Bakersfield wouldn’t be complete without a fully automatic system to reposition the yard at the flick of a switch.

Because of the sheer amount of testosterone involved in building such a beast, we almost named the area “Binford” in homage to the 1990s Tim Allen TV show “Home Improvement”. For the rest of the story about Bakersfield, a.k.a. the MegaDrawer, click here.

Return to Southern Division Main
Return to Layout Tour Main