WELCOME

Hi, and welcome to Max's Trains! My name's Max Warfel and I've been into trains my whole life (going on 15 years). I am a sales agent for Trainz, and a member of the North Atlanta O-Gauge Railroad Club. I like modern engines, but when it comes down to it, you can't beat Postwar Lionel! I have only one Postwar engine, a Lionel 2-6-2 #2025, and I love it! The look, the smell, the way it runs, it's just a great engine. I also like that they are not loaded down with electronics. The whistles sound great to me, and I like how they don't have the shiny look to them, that's one thing I can't stand is a shiny engine.

My layout was featured in the January 2010 Issue of O-Gauge Railroading Magazine.

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BIO.

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My name is Max Warfel. I was born in 1995 in Houston, Tx. I was first introduced to trains when I was 8 months old back in '95. It was my first Christmas when I got a New York Central steam engine set. My collection has grown from there. The same has happened with my train layout.

When we moved to Mississippi in 1998, there was no place to buy trains so I only got trains on Christmas and some of my birthdays. That was when I really got into trains, but unfortunately we did not have enough space to house my dad's layout and the big layout I was dreaming about. So I stuck with the four by four layout I had.

In 2004, we moved to Georgia. Here we had train stores and later on we found out about train shows. We joined the North Atlanta O-Gauge Railroad Club in 2005. About a year after joining the club and seeing club members' layouts, I decided I need a bigger layout. In about June 2006, we started making plans for a new layout. After finding the right track plan, my dad and I went to work on the layout. It was complete and waiting for additional stuff by September 2006. I still have the same layout and I am still making changes.

In October 2009, I started working. In May at a train show, I had met Scott Griggs, owner of Trainz. A club member and I went up and talked to him because he had a Help Wanted sign on his booth. So we talked about me getting a job with Trainz as one of their remote sales agents. I emailed him that day about the job and didn't receive an Email back. I had Emailed him again in September and he said he still had my information. I started to work about a month later. I still work for them, and I enjoy it.

VIDEOS

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MY LAYOUT

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My layout is featured in OGR Magazine, Run 240, on a four page article. It's not a very big layout, but it is the way I want it to be. I don't have lots of M.T.H. engines, mostly Lionel from old starter sets. We normally get William's engines since they run good and aren't loaded down with lots of electronics. Really, the only M.T.H. engine I have is an old Pennsylvania S2 Turbine. The only reason I bought it is because I have always wanted an M.T.H. and it only costed 75 bucks! A lot of my items are from train shows especially cars. I have one man that I buy from, he gives me a good deal on all of the items he's selling. Oh, by the way, the name of my layout is the Juniata (June-e-ata) Valley Railroad. You may be wondering why I put in that little pronunciation thing. Well, it is because lots of people say the name wrong. They say it like Jaunita, instead of Juniata. But I have gotten used to it.

Track Plan & Layout Overview

DETAILS

Builders	Max Warfel with help from Dad
*Scale*	3 Rail O-Scale
Layout Size	32 Square Feet- Main Table: 8 x 6; Yard 5 1/2 x 2
Layout Theme	1950s Pennsylvania, No Prototypical Operation
*Scenery*	100% Complete; Changes A Lot
Trackwork	Weathered Lionel 036 FasTrack
Switches	1 Manual, 5 Remote Control; All 036
Command Systems	None At The Time; Maybe DCS or TMCC
Power Supply	1 MTH Z-1000; 2 Lionel CW-80s (Extra For Accessories)
Curve Radius	All 036 Curves