You may first ask "What is Maxi?" Maxi is a totally new program from Märklin which is composed of all metal locos, passenger coaches and freight cars capable of running on 1 gauge track, LGB track or Play Mobile track. They are 1 gauge trains (1:32) in both German and American prototype.

Each Maxi loco comes equipped with a special DELTA decoder for DC motors. These DELTA/DC decoders are not yet available as spare parts or as separate decoders so they do not have a 6xxx number yet. They do have four dip switches for setting addresses and we are told that future 6603 DELTA modules as well as the Maxi modules will have these dip switches, thus eliminating the solder bridges and the longer, soldering -desoldering, process for changing DELTA addresses.

If the Maxi train is meant to be run on conventional AC power, simply set all the switches to address zero (all switches off) and use a conventional AC Märklin transformer. To run the trains on a Maxi DELTA system (see the discussion on the 6607 DELTA Station below), set the four switches to any of the four standard DELTA addresses (24, 60, 72, 78) and up to four engineers can control the Maxi trains. To run the trains on Märklin Digital, set the addresses to any of the 15 possible addresses using the four dip switches (remember all switches off is used for the analog address) and connect any of the Märklin Digital Control units based on the Motorola format (6020, 6021 or 6023). The Maxi will respond to the Computer Interface, InfraRed Controller, Memory or any of the Märklin Digital units.

If the Maxi is going to be run on conventional DC power, simply remove the DELTA/DC decoder and replace it with the DC plug which comes packaged with the loco. Once the Maxi is converted to DC it can run on existing LGB layouts, 1 gauge layouts with DC power, or Play Mobile layouts. The electronics are packaged in the loco to make them "water resistant" meaning they will not be damaged by fog or slight misting, but do not run them through flood waters or downpours. The finish on the Maxi is as tough as an automobile finish so it can take the abuse of running outdoors in a garden setting. The loco's electrical pickup is very similar to the LGB method.

Each loco in the Maxi line has headlights which work exactly the same as the HO DELTA locos. The lights come on when the loco is given power, but there is no function available through the contollers or the decoders. The steam locos which are available seperately (not the starter set loco "Max") each have an additional smoke unit built into the smoke stack. These smoke units are controlled with an on/off switch mounted on the firewall in the engineers cab. The switch has been added to allow the operator to turn off the smoke in situations where the full wattage of the transformer is being used by four Maxi locos, and wattage which might be consumed by the smoke units would significantly detract from the operation of the locomotives .

The Maxi trains are designed to run on the 6607 DELTA Station, a Märklin Digital system, or on conventional AC or DC systems. It is possible to run Maxi on the 6604 DELTA Control Unit and accompaning DELTA Pilot Hand Controller, but it is not recommended for more than two trains (possibly three without smoke). The 6604 was not made for large scale operations and the cooling capabilities are not the same as on other digital units. Look at the blue case for the 6604 and you will not see the external heat fins as you find on other Digital Central Units.

The new DELTA Station (#6607) is designed to operate four DELTA equipped trains by means of the DELTA Mobile (#6608) hand held controllers. The Station can have four of the Mobile units connected with a 6-wire telephone connection plug attached to the end of the mobil's cord. Extension cords can be purchased at your local Radio Shack store to further the control radius of the Mobil. The Station is designed for outdoor use but the transformer which powers the Station should be keep indoors because they are not rated for, or protected against, outdoor use. Two wires from the transformer provide power to the Station in the same manner as other Märklin Digital products, and two wires from the Station power the tracks. The Station can be used for either DELTA HO gauge trains or the new Maxi trains. It is not possible, however, to use the DELTA Pilot Hand Controller (6605) with the Station. The Station has a different digital chip than the DELTA Controller, and this makes the Mobil hand controller incompatible to the DELTA Controller also. The Station could also power other Märklin 1 gauge trains equipped with the new 6095 decoders (see the discussion later on the 6095 decoders).

The DELTA Mobil (6608) hand controllers which attach to the Station have a large rotary knob for easy loco control with one hand. There is no reverse button required because loco reversing is achieved by simply reversing the rotation direction of the control knob. A slider switch on the Mobil controls the address of the loco and a red pilot light provides on/off status.

The simplicity of the cable connections using standard 6-wire telephone jacks makes it possible to configure some interesting wiring schemes on a layout. One line from the Station can extend around the layout board with standard telephone sockets placed strategically wherever they are needed. The Mobil unit can then be plugged into any of these sockets and control of the train is available at your finger-tips. If you need to move to the other side of the layout, or across the garden, just unplug the Mobil and walk to a new location where a socket is available and plug in the Mobil. During the time that you have disconnected the Mobil, the train will continue to run exactly as it was last programmed, and unless someone else has called up that loco by its address, when you plug in the Mobil unit again and begin commanding the loco it will respond to your commands again. Tests conducted at Märklin, GmbH have shown that the Mobil will continue to accurately send commands through 100 meters of telephone cable.

One question everyone who sees the Station and Mobil units ask is, "Is it possible to access more than the four standard DELTA addresses (24, 60, 72, 78) through the Mobil unit?" The answer is, "No!" It is absolutely impossible to address any other numbers that the basic four. In order to expand beyond the four, you must move up to full Digital operation. But, digital does not have the walk-around Mobil unit capability of unplugging hand held units and reconnecting in another location. The best response to that concern is that Digital is not complete, meaning there is constantly new developments and experiments with the Digital program. Don't rule too many things out as possibilities yet. There is still lots of great stuff to come!