What is your overall impression of Menards rolling stock? I know it's cheaper, so then I assume it not as well built. Is it still a decent product? I am thinking of maybe picking up a few cars at some point from them.
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I have a bunch of different pieces of their rolling stock and I find them to be quite good. That said, I am no where near the heavy hitter some of the other folks on this forum are, but at $20 a piece I think they are great. So to answer your question, they are definitely at worst a decent product.
Cheers, Pete
Well worth $20 to $25. Menards is filling a void for low cost rolling stock and they will take care of any product that is not up to your expectations.
I use Menards cars on sidings. I really like the "weathered" line of cars they have put out recently. Still waiting for a large, weathered, coaling facility. Me 2 cents.......
Are they standard 1:48 scale or are they traditional scale??
I believe they are traditional. Look up Eric's Trains on YouTube, he recently did a few of their products including train cars and a bridge. He's done a few other reviews with other things as well.
John Ptak posted:What is your overall impression of Menards rolling stock? I know it's cheaper, so then I assume it not as well built. Is it still a decent product?
They're not cheaper because they not as well built, but primarily because they're simple in design and execution. So they're not highly detailed like "scale" cars, but have enough so that they're in line with so-called "traditional" Lionel cars, for example.
They're generally smaller than scale cars as well, but can fit in if called upon. Their construction seems quite rugged. For someone who wants to run traditional cars, they're a good value.
Similar Lionel cars - and there are lots of them available on the used market, many of them like new - are another choice. These are of great variety, given that they were made for decades, whereas Menards entered the train production business relatively recently.
Bottom line is that you'll probably be pleased with the Menards cars.
RickM46 posted:Are they standard 1:48 scale or are they traditional scale??
Most are not. The boxcars and gondolas are not, but I believe some other cars are.
I have a couple boxcars that wandered into my collection over the last year or two. They are noticeably shorter in height/width than my scale boxcars (Weaver, Atlas, MTH, Pecos River Brass) so I'm selling them, as they don't fit in visually.
RickM46 posted:Are they standard 1:48 scale or are they traditional scale??
I"see" two basic sizes in Lionel O; so....
Not as small as postwar "semiscale"/0-27 set cars, but more like the larger "PW O" scale". Not true to scale; but close.
It's been speculated some molds are old tooling used by Lionel, actually owned by some overseas company now.
Can't be beat for $20-ish IMO
John,
For all that they cost, I suggest you purchase a couple and see for yourself.
Great for their price !
The are bigger than the 6464 boxcars from Lionel !
They are closer to MTH RailKing size !
I have close to 30 Freight cars .
Menards stands by their product
I do have a Lot of Menards buildings which I and the public love , But for rolling stock I like the cars but have a problem with there trucks, I do have a Problem with the wheels for sure, but I use the rolling stock for show with the buildings.
Boxcars are Williams'ish in sizecand looks.
I have had some knuckles bind on 0-27, but filing the pocket/knuckle took care of it. The trucks are designed for 0-31 min. I think.
They fall into my shopping cart too easily!
They are great looking and great running non scale cars. Great value! They are my floor running rolling stock. They can take anything my cats can dish out and still look like new.
I purchase lots of preowned Williams freight cars for about $20 or less. The molds (some Kusan and some "copied" from Lionel postwar) are the same used by Menards; but I prefer the Williams trucks and wheels. New WBB are overpriced, however. JMHO.
I have a few Menards cars. Bought them along with the free lighted cars and trucks when they offer the promotion. It's a good thing they don't have stores in NY/LI, I'd probably have a ton more that would find their way into my cart after a stop in the lumber/ electrical/ plumbing departments. 
My small layout doesn't have room for their buildings either.
I do have an issue with a recently received box car, the wheels seem to be a bit out of gauge (too small), that I need to fix. Also the one added detail on the bottom of the car (air brake tank?), hits the rails on 027 tubular track and switches so I removed it.
Still can't beat the price and overall the quality is good.
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John Ptak posted:What is your overall impression of Menards rolling stock? I know it's cheaper, so then I assume it not as well built. Is it still a decent product? I am thinking of maybe picking up a few cars at some point from them.
Why would you say that? Like a Honda being built with less quality than an Acura? 
Here is that video I mentioned earlier. Sorry I didn't post it yesterday.
I received a Menards M&M's boxcar and an Illinois Central hopper for Christmas. They both will look great on my layout, but both of them have "rolling" problems. The wheels seem to bind in the trucks. On one axle, the wheels will almost not even move without force. I'm sure someone on here has encountered this problem and will offer a possible solution.
I have one car that has the "rolling problem". I just saw a fix for this on one of the three rail FB groups. I forget which one; I'll have to look for it. It had to do with using a screwdriver to gently pry up/loosen a tab the covers the axle about in the middle of the truck/bogie.
Generally, I am pleased with the cars, especially the graphics on the boxcars.
I put a drop of Teflon oil at the place where the axle enters the truck. Spin the wheel axel set. Have had no issues.
On one of my Menards cars I had a truck where one set of wheels didn't turn freely. Inspection indicated that the plastic truck side was warped and binding on the wheel and axle assembly. I put some pressure between the wheel and truck side with a screwdriver and heated the plastic slightly with a heat gun. The plastic truck side straightened out and works good now.
I like the cars for the price, but be prepared to fix/bend/tweak/file. I have had to correct binding wheels on about five of the dozen or so cars that I own.
I love the cars, and I love dealing with Menards. A few months ago I tried to take advantage of one of their offers for a "free" truck if you purchased a car. I filled out the order form incorrectly and got the car but not the truck. I e-mailed an inquiry and they promptly sent me the truck even though I had filled out the order incorrectly. Pretty neat these days.
Don
I only have flat cars- some with no load (I added a load) and some with military loads. You can get them in three lengths if my memory is correct and of course in these, scale is in the eye of the beholder. the 14 inch flat cars are wonderful and a real deal - these must be scale to any collector I would think. I am also happy with the next size down, I think 11 inch. Check the lengths in the descriptions.
Two pictures of ones I love:
I built this load from a model but this is one of the 14 inch cars.
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I recently bought a Lionel MPC EJ&E boxcar and while it is out on the seasonal floor track with a consist of Menards cars, I decided to compare the two boxcars. The MPC boxcar is smaller, lighter, and trucks are much better quality on Menards. I am not bashing MPC, I actually find it nostalgic to my childhood. But Menards has a fine quality product in the non scale 027 market! The Lionel car was my final purchase at Trading Post Trains in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland. I want to post somewhere about that topic also. Thanks Menards for a truly nice product that is easily affordable! And, if Menards offered this EJ&E car I would buy it. Hint hint!
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lionel and mth should hope that menards doesn't get serious about the model rr game. Menards is selling the same china made toys at half price of hobby brands. Make scale stuff and it will be game over.
C&O line posted:lionel and mth should hope that menards doesn't get serious about the model rr game. Menards is selling the same china made toys at half price of hobby brands. Make scale stuff and it will be game over.
If Menards gets into the scale game, they'll have to do all their own design, develop their own tooling and molds, develop processes for design and implementation of adding scale detail parts, refine their packaging, dramatically increase their labor costs to do these things, etc. etc. Lionel and MTH are in competition. They're doing all these things to produce scale stuff, and obviously competitive pricing is a concern. It's probably unlikely Menards would be able to do it significantly cheaper to get the same level of quality. Just having to invest in developing their own designs and producing their own tooling would dramatically change the economics of their business model.
Does anyone have an e-mail address for Mark the Menards Guy?
You may want to read this
Issue with Menards Rolling Stock
RJR posted:Does anyone have an e-mail address for Mark the Menards Guy?
RJR,
guest@menard-inc.com is the best place to send train-related inquiries.
Thank you,
Mark the Menards Train Guy
Something I dont see discussed is the kinds of door guides used on the boxcars-and it may be of interest only to old guys like me who remain true PW 6464 box car nuts. "Lionel" continued the 6464 tradition of separate door guides top and bottom on their MPC 9200 series-then changed to using, on the bottom, plastic hooks which were extensions of the door itself. What I like about the Menards cars ( and others including most K Line box cars and Williams) is that they continue the original PW Lionel tradition of separate top and bottom door guides. It constantly amazes me-the different "interests" of the members of this forum-yet all great folks who make trains such a great hobby.
