$58 for Trainman?

Especially when Menards is releasing boxcars fpr $17 to $20. 

  Bill T.

Just remember, Menard's isn't doing any brand new tooling for themselves with all the related engineering and development costs. They're using existing dies and tooling, which they may not even own.

And if they were doing brand new product development with new tooling and dies, their prices would likely be more in line with everyone else's prices.

Like going to a very nice exclusive, up-scale restaurant: The price you pay is for far more than just the food.

Not knocking it. But it is what it is. New tooling is expensive, even overseas. People want new products, so there's a cost, especially considering how small the production runs are.

Consider this: 

The Athearn HO equivalent is $23.95.

And it's the same car they've been selling for decades...

Rusty

The trainmann car is scale where anything by menards is not. Your comparing apples and oranges. 

Besides the  MSRP of the trainman car is not what the street price will be. 

The Trainman gondola is not new tooling, just some new paint jobs on the existing ACF gondola. MSRP has increased by $8.00 (16%) since it was last issued in January 2013, two and a half years ago. Given what has happened to manufacturing costs in China, and Atlas' struggles to replace its former contract manufacturer, the increase is not surprising. We'll see what the street price is. For comparison, MSRP on the most recent MTH Premier gondola is $59.95, including a molded resin junk load (all Premier gondolas come with loads). Lionel has not sold scale open gondolas in a while; MSRP on their highly detailed covered gondola is $79.95.

Trainman is no longer the bargain is was when Atlas first came out with the brand, but it's still a nice product. Value for money will really depend on the actual selling price, compared to similar products from Lionel and MTH. 

Do the current Trainman cars have hidden uncouplers or use the thumbtack?

Hmm...  Not really true.  If you look in the recent Menards thread, I compared the Menards 40 foot boxcar dimensions with the Lionel Vision Line PFE Reefers.  The only dimension that is off is they are very slightly narrower, with the emphasis on very slightly, less than 1/8".  Length and height are virtually identical, not enough to speak of, less than 1/16".  I won't argue that you're getting a more finely detailed product with Atlas, but I just want to correct a misconception that the Menards cars are not scale. 

FWIW, the flatcars are not scale, at least I don't think so at their size, I'm speaking of the boxcars they offer.

IMO, the Menards cars are great for running and packing around, the bonus of not having a lot of fine detail is you don't have fine detail to break.

the trainman gondola is the same body as the gondola atlas issued in the 1980s   they have changed the underbody and trucks, but it is the same car.  

It is decent enough car for 80s, but without individual grabs and stirrups and other details, it is not a $58 car for me.    I still have some unpainted I bought in the 80s for 10, so I have a mental block here!

You would think Atlas and the dealers that got stuck with this stuff would figure out a new price point by now.

Not much has sold in the last 4 years when all of a sudden car prices nearly doubled.

95% of the operators will not pay 55 – 75 bucks for a car that had sold in the 30 - 40 dollar range for years. 3R O will not support those prices.

Just go to ebay and look at the unsold history of cars. Month after month and you will see.

Besides Atlas has to revamp their higher end items for better ruggedness and durability.

They also have gone to more plastic vs. metal details which tend to break when handled.

Competitors like the Lionel PS and X-31 series stand up to daily operation and are far superior to anything else made today.

The T-man line is ok but is starting to show its out dated details compared to the latest tooling available like  MTH’s PS-1’s.

What I thought looked good a few years ago, looks a bit out dated today.