(06/28/17) New! Military Caboose from Menards!

????  Menards have gone off the deep end, for sure and have  thing for quad mounts.

Nice addition to fill in the end of the military train. As far as the gun on top I think that is a cool idea. After all you have to protect the end of the train so why not have the caboose loaded for bear. Nice job Mark and crew and of course Bob ( who is probably the guy in charge of production )................Paul

If that gun is fired, won't the recoil knock it off the track?

SantaFeJim posted:

david1 posted:

Not sure if the caboose is totally prototypical but it looks neat and for me a must have. Will order that and a few more. 

Really?  You have never seen a tail gunner on a train before?

Well no but I have seen the turret machine gun mounted in one of the presidential  protection vehicles and that pops up thru the roof. 

It's being market as a toy. Even I, a rivet-counter in comparison to those who would buy such things, can see the 'toy value' to such an item.

I give the entire car a shrug and a "Meh," but at least it isn't represented as a historical item like the 'nose art' cars that drove me nuts.

Mallard4468 posted:

If that gun is fired, won't the recoil knock it off the track?

Nah. .50 caliber machine gun barrels move back a bit into the receiver (the boxy thing between the grips and the barrel, where the cycling of the ammo takes place) just a little to absorb recoil. That mount was called a 'quad 50' (AKA "skysweeper") and was actually used in halftracks and towed mounts:

They were primarily for anti-aircraft but they also worked well on massed troops and soft-skinned vehicles. The mass wave attacks in the Korean war were sometimes broken up by the presence of any of these. A .50 caliber slug is a truly frightening thing as it's really heavy and travels a VERY long way.

Awesome!  That's one ETD you don't mess with!

Can't wait for another USAF release. 

Wile E might buy one if painted for ACME.

Good car to go with the Lional mint cars.

Just ordered mine. Thank you Menards !!!

Bob

Well this is the one that broke my resistance. My first Menard purchase.

I like it - but I wish they would come out with a less toy-like caboose.

Just ordered one cause you just don't know how long they will last!

Roving Sign posted:

I like it - but I wish they would come out with a less toy-like caboose.

Well, the car leans a bit toward the cheesy, and it's a tiny SP version caboose, but it obviously has some appeal.  A little too goofy for my taste, especially with that gun mount glued to the roof, although the flashing red marker lights are cool. People seemed to lust for Menard's to make an Army caboose, but it's hard to imagine a car easier for someone to make. Ingredients are any caboose, olive drab spray paint, some Army decals, and about 25 minutes.  

Here's one of the Army cabooses K-Line made. Much neater - just my opinion. Had machine gun sounds, too. The RMT version shown at the bottom is nice as well, less toy-like than the Menard's car.

I think its about time that Menards puts the orange tips on their 50 cals...

How else do people know that the caboose can't fire???

I no longer get the armed caboose images displayed; instead, I get this:

Any ideas why and how to display the caboose images?

Thx!

Alex

Ingeniero No1 posted:

I no longer get the armed caboose images displayed; instead, I get this:

Any ideas why and how to display the caboose images?

Thx!

Alex

LOL its some now you see it and now you don't. I went back and checked at the first picture and came back to your post and now its there.

And now its gone again. Might be something from Menards!

Picked mine up today.  Didn't think I'd like the tail gunner on the rear, but it actually looks cool in person. Otherwise it just pops on or off. I also picked up that army helicopter from the $2.99 car bin. Overall, very happy with my purchase. Have a happy 4th!