There appears to be some interest on this board for traditional sized passenger cars from a few members, but the opinions are mixed overall, both as to the level of interest and what interested members would be willing to pay for such cars. I would have no such interest, as I run scale cars.
There will certainly be a gap in traditional sized passenger cars with MTH going out of business, and the resulting loss of the RailKing passenger cars. However, the question is whether there would be enough interest in the marketplace for this to be a worthwhile endeavor for Menards. Having worked with marketing and sales organizations my entire career, this is a complicated and multi-dimensional issue. Following are a few considerations. I am certain that Menards would want to conduct significant market research and make an overall assessment before potentially deciding to develop an entirely new product line. There is also a timing issue. Even if Menards potentially had some interest in making traditional sized passenger cars, I think it is likely that there will be considerable old/new MTH stock available well into the future. Also, as another member has already pointed out, there are plenty of traditional sized passenger cars from various manufacturers available in the marketplace. There is also a competition component, as it is possible that Lionel and/or Bachmann/Williams will step into the breach. Finally, before moving forward, a determination would need to be made concerning pricing, which strikes the appropriate balance between profitability and anticipated sales volume.
It will be interesting to see how this works out.
Pat
