Menards Newest Offerings....pictures

Great looking cars, Menards.

Now a discounted 4-pack of just the weathered cars and a discounted "mix n' match" 4-pack of the others would be a great idea !!

I like your idea Richie C.

All those new boxcars and not a single Spokane Portland & Seattle offering. Maybe next year.

Glad to see that weathering, as a concept, has invaded the near-toy end of 3RO. I won't be buying any of these cars (for various reasons), but the weathering - which I applaud as an effort - is poorly done. I see this every so often: weathering as a random event with no cause-and-effect in evidence. Just stuff thrown at the wall.

RR equipment weathers in certain ways and in certain patterns relative to the conditions and use of the equipment. There are indeed some odd events that dirty up a car or loco in a non-typical way, but mostly "stuff" drips down from above according to the laws of gravity, and physics in general, and "stuff" gets splashed up from the roadbed according to the same laws. It's really kind of predictable. It varies with service and geography. What cars carry - the lading - can play a big role (cement hoppers are always a good example of that). These weathered cars seem to have clean wheels and trucks - typically the first place that gets dirty.

Improvement would not take much.

Thanks dad for the pics. A very nice selection of box cars. Paul 2

I must say, these are very colorful  boxcars and will go great on any layout.

I like the weathered cars, yet I wonder how they would look with my non-weathered rolling stock. Will have to try to picture that when I next run trains.

Any chance those yellow Santa Fe boxcars will be offered without the weathering?

They look nice.  Thanks for posting.  The silver trucks do stand out nicely.  Nick T. 

There is a strange error in the Interior Length Measurement on all of these boxcars. Somebody put 10'-8" instead of 40'-8". 

Andrew

As always great job Menard's!! Don't worry about the "rivet counters" and I am sure you don't!!! Your products continue to fill a void in the O gauge world. I don't remember anything said about your products being scale and/or real world weathering. The new Santa Fe Warbonnet boxcar will be added to my fleet, can never go wrong with anything in the Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme. Keep up the good work!!

Jeff

SouthernMike posted:

Any chance those yellow Santa Fe boxcars will be offered without the weathering?

The  Yellow Santa Fe has been produced without the weathering a while back.

Loving the PRR  caboose

Wow, a Rio Grande car!  The mountain road is getting some respect!

Nice stuff!  I will agree with a couple of the comments above about the "weathered" items.   I would think that you would either want EVERYTHING you have weathered (in a consistent way) or just not have it at all.  

I assume that during a typical railroad company's existence, it had to periodically replace outmoded, outdated or broken-down freight cars with new ones that then got mixed into a consist with well-weathered cars, so that a mix of new and weathered cars in one consist was fairly typical.

Although it might not look right to the eye, wouldn't that mix of old and new be fairly prototypical ?

Question:  Why is all of the Menards Cars you are showing on FASTRACK when Menards sells and promotes there own Tubular Track?  Sincerely yours -- railbear601

CABINET BOB,

I appreciate you taking pictures of all of the items Menard's offers for sale. Please continue to do so.

Menards did not post the pics. Cabinet Bob did. He more then likely had some laying around. It actually shows how good those cars look on fasttrack........Paul 2

railbear601 posted:

Question:  Why is all of the Menards Cars you are showing on FASTRACK when Menards sells and promotes there own Tubular Track?  Sincerely yours -- railbear601

Menards makes the traction track from their track to Fastrack.

Did you mean "transition" track?

Bob, another great job of showing those Menard's cars.  I'd buy them all.   Too bad I've already bought so many, there's no room for any more on either layout.  On with Menard's!!

Jerry

mowingman posted:

Did you mean "transition" track?

Yes, sorry, stupid  spell check..thanks

I really like the realistic buildings Menards has produced but fail to grasp the concept of selling new 'traditional' rolling stock in this hobby. Just look at most train shows and you will see hundreds if not thousands of Lionel, RK, Williams, and K-Line freight cars of virtually any roadname and size that has been produced since the 1970s  still new in their boxes! Many of these cars have never been on a layout, never been played with or even displayed since being produced. You can still purchase and collect new Lionel MPC cars made in America for around $10 ea if you look - cheaper in bulk!

What is the appeal for a Menards freight car please?

Most of these cars are probably sold in Menards' brick & mortar stores during the holiday season (Menards' has a lot of stores). I'm guessing here, but most of their customers buying these are likely not dyed-in-the-wool 3-rail 'O' train people who would be aware of the glut of new-oldstock traditional freight cars in atypical sales channels.

---PCJ

With regard to "every roadname" being offered, until returning to 3 rail in 1980's, l searched for std. gauge HO Colorado roadname rolling stock : C&S, Denver and Salt Lake, Colorado Midland, etc.  These were rare in HO, and the Great Western, with a loco on the Strasburg now hauling a lot of passengers, had a brass HO model of the loco, but no other rolling stock.  Then #90 was hauling passengers, still, in its cabooses.  That got little notice in HO, with no lettered rolling stock, remains so, and, of course, only the C&S has a few cars in three rail.  I do not expect Menards to make cars for these roads, but the above listed mfrs. didn't either.

Hmm... I am wondering if any more Santa FE Warbonnet paint scheme rolling stock to be offered in the future will have the silver trucks just like the last boxcar offered??? Just ordered 2 of the boxcars!!! Can not go wrong with the Warbonnet & silver trucks!!! Great job Menard's & Cabinet Bob!!

WOW I haven't been on in a couple of days and look here Menards sure has put out some great looking cars! I sure like those Santa Fe box cars! I think both of them are really sharp looking! 

THANKS MENARDS AND BOB for posting the pictures!

CABINET BOB,

How would you grade the trucks on these new cars?.

jim sutter posted:

CABINET BOB,

How would you grade the trucks on these new cars?.

Jim, the cars pictured have all worked flawlessly  on my layout. 

Is Menards still refusing to ship to California, or have they gotten over whatever it was that made them leave the Golden state off of their customer list?

RoyBoy posted:

Is Menards still refusing to ship to California, or have they gotten over whatever it was that made them leave the Golden state off of their customer list?

All the NEW products are labeled  for Ca. So, yes, they can now be shipped to you.

Thank you, CABINET BOB.

c.sam posted:

I really like the realistic buildings Menards has produced but fail to grasp the concept of selling new 'traditional' rolling stock in this hobby. Just look at most train shows and you will see hundreds if not thousands of Lionel, RK, Williams, and K-Line freight cars of virtually any roadname and size that has been produced since the 1970s  still new in their boxes! Many of these cars have never been on a layout, never been played with or even displayed since being produced. You can still purchase and collect new Lionel MPC cars made in America for around $10 ea if you look - cheaper in bulk!

What is the appeal for a Menards freight car please?

Appeal?

Because people WANT them????

falconservice posted:

There is a strange error in the Interior Length Measurement on all of these boxcars. Somebody put 10'-8" instead of 40'-8". 

Andrew

Good observation.  I see IL of 10-8 on some of the box cars.  Three of them have IL of 40-0.

c.sam posted:

I really like the realistic buildings Menards has produced but fail to grasp the concept of selling new 'traditional' rolling stock in this hobby. Just look at most train shows and you will see hundreds if not thousands of Lionel, RK, Williams, and K-Line freight cars of virtually any roadname and size that has been produced since the 1970s  still new in their boxes! Many of these cars have never been on a layout, never been played with or even displayed since being produced. You can still purchase and collect new Lionel MPC cars made in America for around $10 ea if you look - cheaper in bulk!

What is the appeal for a Menards freight car please?

Sam,

I see your point and tend to agree. I really like the fact that Menards's has become a player in the O gauge market place and have bought several of their buildings. But I've mostly stayed away from the rolling stock for exactly the reasons you mention above.

c.sam posted:

I really like the realistic buildings Menards has produced but fail to grasp the concept of selling new 'traditional' rolling stock in this hobby. Just look at most train shows and you will see hundreds if not thousands of Lionel, RK, Williams, and K-Line freight cars of virtually any roadname and size that has been produced since the 1970s  still new in their boxes! Many of these cars have never been on a layout, never been played with or even displayed since being produced. You can still purchase and collect new Lionel MPC cars made in America for around $10 ea if you look - cheaper in bulk!

What is the appeal for a Menards freight car please?

Couldn't you ask the same question of Lionel, MTH and the other manufacturers - why are they producing new rolling stock if there's a glut of NOS available at train shows ? 

c.sam posted:

I really like the realistic buildings Menards has produced but fail to grasp the concept of selling new 'traditional' rolling stock in this hobby. Just look at most train shows and you will see hundreds if not thousands of Lionel, RK, Williams, and K-Line freight cars of virtually any roadname and size that has been produced since the 1970s  still new in their boxes! Many of these cars have never been on a layout, never been played with or even displayed since being produced. You can still purchase and collect new Lionel MPC cars made in America for around $10 ea if you look - cheaper in bulk!

What is the appeal for a Menards freight car please?

What's the appeal?

They're easily and readily available during the peak toy train holiday season at any Menard's location, and at a cheap price!

Richie C. posted:

c.sam posted:

I really like the realistic buildings Menards has produced but fail to grasp the concept of selling new 'traditional' rolling stock in this hobby. Just look at most train shows and you will see hundreds if not thousands of Lionel, RK, Williams, and K-Line freight cars of virtually any roadname and size that has been produced since the 1970s  still new in their boxes! Many of these cars have never been on a layout, never been played with or even displayed since being produced. You can still purchase and collect new Lionel MPC cars made in America for around $10 ea if you look - cheaper in bulk!

What is the appeal for a Menards freight car please?

Couldn't you ask the same question of Lionel, MTH and the other manufacturers - why are they producing new rolling stock if there's a glut of NOS available at train shows ? 

Ah, yes, Richie C., every manufacturer wants a financial cut of the marketnhi, to be in on the action!

c.sam posted:

I really like the realistic buildings Menards has produced but fail to grasp the concept of selling new 'traditional' rolling stock in this hobby. Just look at most train shows and you will see hundreds if not thousands of Lionel, RK, Williams, and K-Line freight cars of virtually any roadname and size that has been produced since the 1970s  still new in their boxes! Many of these cars have never been on a layout, never been played with or even displayed since being produced. You can still purchase and collect new Lionel MPC cars made in America for around $10 ea if you look - cheaper in bulk!

What is the appeal for a Menards freight car please?

First, any product that sells must have appeal (whether or not it can be put into words) to buyers and products that sell help keep the hobby alive if not growing.

Second, the last Menards house car I bought was closer to scale dimensions than most of the other/older products from K-Line, Lionel, and MTH RailKing.  It seems close to some of the Williams offerings in scale dimensions (which I also like), most notably to me in the width where, IIRC, they are close to a scale 9-1/2' whereas most of the other cars are around 8 , 8-1/2, or 9' wide.  I haven't bought a lot Menards cars but on the ones I have bought I like both the look and the feel that extra width provides.  

Third, even with the hundreds or thousands that are already out there, maybe they haven't been done in a road or paint scheme that Menards has done that appeals to me.

Fourth, every Menards car has a unique road number so you can buy more than one car and not repeat car numbers.  This is especially nice if you're doing a unit train or just like a large block of a single type of car.

Fifth, the prices are very reasonable and you get a new car with modern trucks, wheels, and couplers.  If something has been around since the 1970s and it's new in the box, maybe there's a reason it hasn't sold.  Menards products are more of a known quantity and with their great customer service there's less likely to be a hassle if there are any questions/issues/problems with the product.

Peter Gentieu    

PGentieu posted:

c.sam posted:

I really like the realistic buildings Menards has produced but fail to grasp the concept of selling new 'traditional' rolling stock in this hobby. Just look at most train shows and you will see hundreds if not thousands of Lionel, RK, Williams, and K-Line freight cars of virtually any roadname and size that has been produced since the 1970s  still new in their boxes! Many of these cars have never been on a layout, never been played with or even displayed since being produced. You can still purchase and collect new Lionel MPC cars made in America for around $10 ea if you look - cheaper in bulk!

What is the appeal for a Menards freight car please?

First, any product that sells must have appeal (whether or not it can be put into words) to buyers and products that sell help keep the hobby alive if not growing.

Second, the last Menards house car I bought was closer to scale dimensions than most of the other/older products from K-Line, Lionel, and MTH RailKing.  It seems close to some of the Williams offerings in scale dimensions (which I also like), most notably to me in the width where, IIRC, they are close to a scale 9-1/2' whereas most of the other cars are around 8 , 8-1/2, or 9' wide.  I haven't bought a lot Menards cars but on the ones I have bought I like both the look and the feel that extra width provides.  

Third, even with the hundreds or thousands that are already out there, maybe they haven't been done in a road or paint scheme that Menards has done that appeals to me.

Fourth, every Menards car has a unique road number so you can buy more than one car and not repeat car numbers.  This is especially nice if you're doing a unit train or just like a large block of a single type of car.

Fifth, the prices are very reasonable and you get a new car with modern trucks, wheels, and couplers.  If something has been around since the 1970s and it's new in the box, maybe there's a reason it hasn't sold.  Menards products are more of a known quantity and with their great customer service there's less likely to be a hassle if there are any questions/issues/problems with the product.

Peter Gentieu    

Thanks for kind words !

Interesting replies fellas - Thanks for pointing out the newer features you mention. I've not seen any in person yet but we have a regional train show next month so maybe a few will show up there.