I'm not sure which Menards buildings you have, but most of Menards' recent buildings have been made of MDF, including the hobby shop and the Red Owl. In fact, the only plastic buildings I can think of were the ones made by Woodland Scenics for Menards several years ago. Menards also has produced some resin buildings.
That's neat.
Maybe next run could have some walls & roof on the insert so it can stand alone too ?
Menards posted:IRON HORSE posted:Sweet! Love hotel's bing bang for the small footprint -- makes up for my Red Owl store square footage. I will probably add it on to my order for my new basement bathroom sink outside my train room online as I take advantage of their their famous 11% off sale this week. Can anyone confirm that the new 4.5 volt transformer needed is the same as the Lemax 4.5v?
Iron Horse,
Truth be told, the Lemax 4.5v power source doesn't have enough juice to power the York Hotel. You will need a 4.5-volt power supply with 5,000 mA for this structure.
-Mark the Menards Train Guy
When you order this will Menards provided an immediate link and/or recommend the appropriate power supply chord?
When I bought my American Power Plant on a rare visit to Indiana, no one in the store was going to say anything and I would have gone home to Pennsylvania powerless. It was only due to the fact that since it was their LAST one I asked them to try the lights that we determined a separate power supply was needed. Menards should sells these as Building PLUS Power Supply. They can price it accordingly. To do other wise is, in my opinion, a tiny ( I did say tiny ) bit deceptive. Imagine a kid on Christmas morning opening his train set only to find that there was the train, track, and accessories, but no power supply included. We would all find that unacceptable. It is kind of the same thing with these buildings. Still, I think it is a GREAT buy!
Adriatic posted:That's neat.
Maybe next run could have some walls & roof on the insert so it can stand alone too ?
I think the parking garage insert would be great to fit in between two buildings as an access to underground parking. Maybe put a cell phone tower, radio tower, billboard, etc on top. You see that type of thing all over NYC, etc.
Michael Hokkanen posted:Menards posted:IRON HORSE posted:Sweet! Love hotel's bing bang for the small footprint -- makes up for my Red Owl store square footage. I will probably add it on to my order for my new basement bathroom sink outside my train room online as I take advantage of their their famous 11% off sale this week. Can anyone confirm that the new 4.5 volt transformer needed is the same as the Lemax 4.5v?
Iron Horse,
Truth be told, the Lemax 4.5v power source doesn't have enough juice to power the York Hotel. You will need a 4.5-volt power supply with 5,000 mA for this structure.
-Mark the Menards Train Guy
When you order this will Menards provided an immediate link and/or recommend the appropriate power supply chord?
When I bought my American Power Plant on a rare visit to Indiana, no one in the store was going to say anything and I would have gone home to Pennsylvania powerless. It was only due to the fact that since it was their LAST one I asked them to try the lights that we determined a separate power supply was needed. Menards should sells these as Building PLUS Power Supply. They can price it accordingly. To do other wise is, in my opinion, a tiny ( I did say tiny ) bit deceptive. Imagine a kid on Christmas morning opening his train set only to find that there was the train, track, and accessories, but no power supply included. We would all find that unacceptable. It is kind of the same thing with these buildings. Still, I think it is a GREAT buy!
When you order it online, the power supply is automatically added to your cart.
I think you're mixing up Woodland Scenics buildings (those made for its own branding as well as for Menards) with Menards' own designed products. Menards (as a manufacturer) didn't have an Italian restaurant, a cobbler store, a gas station, a motorcycle building or an apartment building.
The Seed and Feed is resin, not plastic, as are several others. (You can tell which are resin by weight alone -- they are very heavy.)
The Power & Light building is MDF, as is the recent bus maintenance facility and others I mentioned earlier.
As for those you listed as brick, Menards has been embossing a brick finish on MDF (medium-density fiberboard) for a while now.
To my knowledge, Menards has not used plastic construction for its buildings since it discontinued its relationship with Woodland Scenics several years ago. All of those earlier structures were merely existing WS structures rebranded for Menards. One example: WS's Harrison Hardware building (produced in three scales, including O) was repackaged for Menards circa 2012 and was called Menards Hardware.
PJB, if you check the Menards site, you will see the buildings which are specifically made by Menards as Jim stated. It is you who is wrong and quite nasty I might add. I bought the same gas station that you are stating, but I had to purchase it through a different vender. They were a part of Woodland Scenics with a Menards sign. You will not find a gas station on the Menards website. You should really complete your research before barking at a response that was very cordial and informative. If Menards repaired something for you, it just is a statement about their customer service. If you check all of the folks who have bought their buildings, they will attest to their quality. As for the brick, I cannot say.
Rick
Hi Paul, $106.79 with rebate. Just click on "LEARN MORE " link at the top of the picture on the opening post.
I don't think anyone is going to be willing to help you. You've run into similar fights with other people in your other thread on the value of toy trains. Let's see what the moderators think.
Pete, how old are you? I don't know Jim at all other than what he posts here. I judge folks by what they write here and their demeanor. Nothing in Jim's post was being judgmental nor derogatory. And your acronym is truly not called for. Childish.
Here is an old post concerning the gas station: https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...n-is-available-again
OK guys.....lets be more respectful to the original purpose of this thread....to introduce a new structure from Menards. Honestly....I don't know why it seems lately some folks get "testy" quite quickly....even when someone is genuinely trying to help.
Thanks Mark for continuing to keep us updated with your offerings and interacting in a positive way with our members.
All the best....
Alan
OGR Ad Man posted:OK guys.....lets be more respectful to the original purpose of this thread....to introduce a new structure from Menards. Honestly....I don't know why it seems lately some folks get "testy" quite quickly....even when someone is genuinely trying to help.
Thanks Mark for continuing to keep us updated with your offerings and interacting in a positive way with our members.
All the best....
Alan
Agreed. A couple of quick notes: 1. Both my Morton Salt building and the American Light and Power building appear to be made of plastic. Is this just a really good paint job on MDF? 2. My Red Owl store has definite MDF but the brick sides and back have the look and feel of plastic, too. Further inspection makes me wonder if they are mdf, too. (attaching photo) 3. Menards currently does not have the O Gauge stuff in their stores. I'm in their home state of Wisconsin and only see them during the build-up toward Christmas and slightly thereafter into January -- so don't go out of your way to see them today. Their web site has very accurate photos, though. 4. There is an excellent thread here on how to make your own plug that allows you to run these buildings on track transformer power. I've purchased the material on ebay, just haven't hooked it up yet. I would love to see Jim Barrett do his version of this with comments.
Attachments
I own the power plant....very well done MDF.
I have 6 of Menards and all very well done with MDF.
All but 4 on the website are mare of MDF. As a cabinet maker, I work with this type of product every day. My hotel will be here Tuesday and will follow up with full details and pictures.. Bob
Ok Bob, no turning it into a brothel! I have heard stories about you mid west guys! LOL
IRON HORSE posted:OGR Ad Man posted:OK guys.....lets be more respectful to the original purpose of this thread....to introduce a new structure from Menards. Honestly....I don't know why it seems lately some folks get "testy" quite quickly....even when someone is genuinely trying to help.
Thanks Mark for continuing to keep us updated with your offerings and interacting in a positive way with our members.
All the best....
Alan
Agreed. A couple of quick notes: 1. Both my Morton Salt building and the American Light and Power building appear to be made of plastic. Is this just a really good paint job on MDF? 2. My Red Owl store has definite MDF but the brick sides and back have the look and feel of plastic, too. Further inspection makes me wonder if they are mdf, too. (attaching photo) 3. Menards currently does not have the O Gauge stuff in their stores. I'm in their home state of Wisconsin and only see them during the build-up toward Christmas and slightly thereafter into January -- so don't go out of your way to see them today. Their web site has very accurate photos, though. 4. There is an excellent thread here on how to make your own plug that allows you to run these buildings on track transformer power. I've purchased the material on ebay, just haven't hooked it up yet. I would love to see Jim Barrett do his version of this with comments.
I was fooled too when I first got the Red Owl building. All those buildings you mentioned are MDF. Confirmed in earlier threads. (And I did a subtle scratch test on the Red Owl brick just to convince myself fully.)
Mike, all those stories you heard about Midwest guys were started by Midwest guys! LOL
play trains posted:Mike, all those stories you heard about Midwest guys were started by Midwest guys! LOL
Good point, I did not think of that!