New Menard's WWII Commemorative Box Cars - I had to have them!

They will be here Tuesday.... Maybe....

retired CID.....then no doubt you worked with this man......

thank you for your service btw Dave

Steamer,

   David that is a really old picture of me, and classified!    

You sir are more than welcome, I served because of good people like you and your family.

PRR/Dave

ah...the old "classified" bit...whatever you say Sam......

As I mentioned on another post, I had to have these cars because my Dad flew those planes and I thought it was great to bring back that era! His plane was "Impatient Virgin", the props where you would imagine them to be! I wasn't allowed to see pictures until I was 16!!!! My cars too come Tuesday! Jumped on it because I predict a sellout!

PLAYTRAINS,

    I do believe you are correct, they will probably sell out quickly, especially after a few of us receive them and show them on the tracks with our Military Trains.  Because the Colors & Paintings on these Menard's Commemorative WWII Box Cars, are so WWII era historically accurate, these Cars are just fantastic.  

If your Father is still alive please thank him for me, for his incredible service to our Country.  If you have any pictures of him & his "Impatient Virgin"  please post a few, we would love to see them!   

PCRR/Dave

Well Dave

Mainly because I respect your opinion  and the fact our oldest is still flying for the Army I just ordered these cars.  Menard's has always had some military train items I was contemplating but with shipping and the recent rebate issues I stayed away.

But, I'm trying the cheapest  shipping method (6.15) on this first order and trying to stop being hard headed about it. lol

Hopefully it will get here before the Lionel BTO's will.

Larry

Semper Fi.

They are a GREAT set!

play trains posted:

As I mentioned on another post, I had to have these cars because my Dad flew those planes and I thought it was great to bring back that era! His plane was "Impatient Virgin", the props where you would imagine them to be! I wasn't allowed to see pictures until I was 16!!!! My cars too come Tuesday! Jumped on it because I predict a sellout!

Enjoy, and Happy Birthday!  My father served in the 100th during WW II.

Hey folks, are these scale size cars or do they lean more towards smaller size? 

they look amazing but I want to make sure before I order them

Almost eactly the same size as MTH Railing boxcars!

Ohhhhhh crap!!!  Well, I guess I have to check these out too.  Just what I needed... more Army cars.

Thanks Dave,  Rick

The 11% Mail-in Rebate "Sale"??  It's a store credit for in-person, in-store shopping only.  Can't be used for online orders. So if you don't live within range of a Menards physical store - you won't be able to use it.

Dave, thanks for your kind words! My Dad died in 1974 eventually from injuries suffered when he was shot down in Korea! We have looked for the pictures, but believe my mother, who is also gone, got rid of them because she was embarrassed! She was from a different generation!!

Playtrains...what type of aircraft did your Dad fly?

Bombers,I believe B17's, B25's, I was just a little kid, but I know he also flew the tail end of the airlift! I was born in Bremerhaven, so was my sister!

My family was all grunt, so no lovely aircraft stories XD

found this on the net. there were some others listed, but no pics. this one was from the 95th BG(H)

El Classico posted:

My family was all grunt, so no lovely aircraft stories XD

but the grunts were the ones who stayed up all night to keep  the aircraft flying, putting them back together after the fighters and AA and done their worst.

Steamer posted:

El Classico posted:

My family was all grunt, so no lovely aircraft stories XD

but the grunts were the ones who stayed up all night to keep  the aircraft flying, putting them back together after the fighters and AA and done their worst.

True that.

Dad's was much more graphic than that, trust me! My mother would have been okay with the one you found! 

One thing about these cars, they have me remembering things I haven't thought about since I was a kid!

PLAYTRAINS,

  I understand the generation differences, so I understand why your Mom got rid of your Dads pictures.  My wife is a change of life baby, her mother was older than my Grandmother, we have a lot of generational differences here in our family also.

Larry Sr,

   I do believe you will love them, I will take some close up pictures when they arrive, with them on the Christmas layout.

PCRR/Dave 

jlm posted:

The 11% Mail-in Rebate "Sale"??  It's a store credit for in-person, in-store shopping only.  Can't be used for online orders. So if you don't live within range of a Menards physical store - you won't be able to use it.

Correct... That's how I read it too.  Even at the regular prices though, these are orders-of-magnitude a "best bang for your buck" type purchase.  

Between the Menards offerings and recent OLR products, I can easily see the pendulum swinging back to traditional sized O-Gauge.  Folks can pack so much more into a given layout space too.  Not everybody is building 25'x50' basement empires.    And even folks blessed with the financial means to do so may be at a stage of life where they want to downsize their real estate.  So I see traditional O-Gauge making a strong comeback -- but the quality needs to be there for the comeback to happen.

David

play trains posted:

Dad's was much more graphic than that, trust me! My mother would have been okay with the one you found! 

oh I'm sure it was. there were some beautiful artwork during the war. The Collins Foundation had a paint scheme on their B-24, The Dragon and His Tail, which took up almost the entire side of the plane.

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Gentlemen,

    How many of you ordered the New Menard's WWII Commemorative Box Cars, being an old US Army Retired CID Special Agent, I just had to have this set of Military Rolling Stock, to add to my Special Forces Train, and ordered them today.  The colors look fantastic to me for the cost.   Here is the kicker, it only cost me $5.00 to ship them all to my door, and I am getting an 11% mail in rebate with them.  I only hope the Trucks on these WWII Commemorative Box Cars are the same as on the Copter Flat Cars and other longer Flat Cars, cause Menard's got those Trucks absolutely right.  Happy Birthday to me!

PCRR/Dave

Dave,  were you ever stationed in Germany?

BTW, my dad flew B-25"s In the Pacific theater:  Air Apaches, 500th BS, 345th BG, 5th AF.  Speaking of the Collings Foundation, they have a B-25 painted for my Dad's squadron - Tondelayo.  Both my Dad and I have flown on it.

John,

    Something tells me you know I spent some time working as a CID Special Agent in Germany, during the Bonhauf Bombing of our US Embassy.  John your picture is somewhat familiar, have we met before?

PCRR/Dave

Don't believe so.  I was in Germany from 1967-1970, first in Wurzburg, then Baumholder.  Married a German girl.  Her brother was CID at Baumholder.

John,

    In 1970 I was in Baumholder and Munich, your wife's maiden name would not happen to be Minton would it.  Her brother would be, one of our CID Agent's at that time in that region.  Like me he should now be retired.  I remember meeting his younger sister, an incredibly beautiful young lady, if she is your wife, you sir are a very very lucky man.

PCRR/Dave

Well all I did was work for the woman who inspired the nose art and name for the "Memphis Belle".  Margaret Polk in Memphis, TN.  

Will someone please tell us about the trucks that come on these?  That is the ONLY thing stopping me from ordering.  The trucks on the shell box cars were so loose all of them do a bow going through corners!  

Menards has improved the trucks a great deal! I have bought 50 or so cars long flat cars etc in the last 6 months and they roll great!

John Peyton,

    Mine are in route right now, when they arrive I will post pictures of them on the Tracks, and give you a detailed break down about the quality of the Trucks.  If they are the same as on the Wood Style Copter Flat Cars, they should be fantastic.  We will see when they get here.

PCRR/Dave

RickC,

    Your comment, in your post, was exactly what I said to myself when I saw them also!

PCRR/Dave

Well mine came yesterday. I only pulled one out and opened up the cardboard box and looked at it, I did not take it out of the plastic. It looked good to me.

I have been starting selling off some of my collection so I have been taking photos of them. So I saw this thread and I figured I would take some photos of this set so everyone could see.

To my surprise there is the good, bad & ugly. So let me try to explain, the 1st car I took out had the box car #only on one side of the box car. Box car #2 the same way. The next 4 were all OK. I put box car #2 back into it's plastic and then I looked at all of the cars again while they were in their clear plastic shell and only the 1st. car was missing the # the other 5 had them now. I'm kind of scratching my head, so I figured that I would take a photo of every 2 cars. Then here I again have 2 cars with #'s on one side. Then I found out where the # was, it is attached it's self to the inside of the clear plastic. See photo.

What really does not show up in the photos is that most of the printing on the box car is clear decals. The high explosives on the upper left corner is a decal. The ladies and their graphics is clear decals. The Menard's and car #'s are clear decals. The US Military Transport Command, the name of the lady, USAXX & Built By 1941 are stamped on. Now the "Danger Explosives" on the doors and ends of the cars are regular paper decals.

In the photos of the cars, you can hardly see the decals but they are noticeable when they are in front of you.

The one question that I have is, would it be advisable to have the cars clear-coated to help protect them?

Paul P.

thanks for the update. I just checked my cars and found 1 set of trucks not attached. The C clamp came off 1 of the cars.

Everything else is okay. Oh the Rosie car has RIVETS in the left corner not explosives.

I hope the second run has PACIFIC theater cars.

GG1GUYY

I said it before, if you are interested in this set,I would jump on it because I predict a sellout! Because it is a special set it may not be offered again! But they may offer a set from a different theater! I wonder if they have the tooling to offer a military caboose at some point! That would be a good thing!

I like the set I was going to get a set but now I don't know. Why would the Graphics be coming off ?? Yes I could clear them but if they are off when they come that is a issue.

Has anyone mailed in their rebate? I am sending mine in per the instructions on line.

LETS SEE WHAT HAPPENS?

GG1GUYY

Doc

If you were to clear coat them can you just use a rattle can of clear spray.  Like Polyurethane?

Or, do you suggests some other material?

Larry