(01/05/16) O Gauge Release from Menards!

J Daddy posted:

Offer up an 8 pack of grouped cars in the same road name to represent a fleet industry of cars!

J Daddy,

That is a good point! Plus, if you buy a case of 8, you save $20! That's only $17.50 per car!

Here's the link.

-Mark the Menards Train Guy

Those cars look as if they come from the same plant as Williams.

Did ATSF have cars painted like this?  Even if a test sample on the prototype.

CSXJOE posted:

When Menards announces a product, it's immediately available, no pre-orders, BTO, or waiting a year for delivery.

 

IMHO, that's a plus in today's marketplace.

 

Strike when the iron is hot

Well...we don't know how long these products were in development once they were green-lit

---PCJ

I like the hopper, would be cool if they did an entire series of cars with the Warbonnet scheme on them.  The Lionel ones on Ebay are outrageously priced.

Jerry

Growing up in Chicago, Santa Fe was always in my backyard my first words as a child probably was "Santa Fe All the Way" 

I do like these new cars especially with the "all the way" slogan.

Thanks Menards 

franktrain

Which color scheme would you like to see for the SOO LINE or Chicago & North Western?

Andrew

Red and white with large black SOO and the green and yellow for CNW.

Amen to that!

I love your products Mark. I said for years that I wish we had another company to come along that could fill the empty slot left by the K-Line demise and here Menards is. 

Keep up the good work and maybe a club membership could complete the package. How about a Menards engine and work train?

In any case your fulling a real niche market and it's appreciated. But, please no battles with the big train producers, we love them too.

Above all quality is more important to Menards success then anything else.

Good luck pal and keep up the good work. You will be hearing from me in a couple of weeks. 

Santa Fe grain hoppers would be great!  Regards, Swafford

I wouldn't be suprised to see stuff like that soon! Menards seems very tuned in to what people want and a lot of guys were asking for tank cars and coal hoppers and voila! Today we have the beginning! Can grain hopper cars be far behind? I think not!

Unit trains of hppers of tN&W HC-3's (base of M's hopper model) would be nice!

Does the car come with both coal and covered options?

One wants the cover if you are shipping dog food for the German Shepherd, and you do not want it to get wet!

Nice hoppers. Would love to see these in black with Alaska Railroad markings to go along with the other ARR offerings.

Sorry Mark, but does the O world really need yet another version of the postwar Lionel hopper with an unprototypical coal load? Another clone of the PW Lionel tank car too? Rather uninspiring.

Menards has estimated sales of  $8.3 "B" as in billion,  company.  Menards also sponsors race car team in NASCAR to  the tune of ~$15 million annually, driven by his son Paul Menard.   The  pricing, delivery, marketing, and development work you see is the result of having a well funded operation backing your adventure and insuring it will last into the future. 

Whether or not the cars are clones of post-war products is immaterial.   There are other threads where the complaint is the high cost of entry level trains from the other manufacturers.  Combine a low cost Williams conventional engine with a string of Menards cars  and track, and you  have an affordable the solution.

So enjoy the offerings. 

I for one LOVE what Menards is doing and I have both high end and low end engines and rolling stock on my layout to the tune of 25 to 30K and mine is a private layout (no club in the area). So keep on keepin on Menards we love ya!

I have come to the conclusion that  some posters would complain if they were hung with a used rope instead of a new one.

Don't forget also that the rope must be prototypically correct! Lol

I will have to get these cars and that box truck.  The Isuzu cab is WAY to new for that paint job but the same could be said for the Ford pickup and I bought it.

BTW I happen to know that Athearn has some great tooling for a 1/50 scale Ford C series cabover they are not using that makes beautiful models.

Back to reality, I would love to see the  Mack truck you guys have offered in rail road paint jobs.  Wouldn't mind seeing in in a tractor configuration either.  Those aerodynamic Kenworths are just too new looking for my era.  

I have a case of Super Shock Controls, Rail Box and a 4 pack of C&O on the way now.

It's great how you offered the C&O in a 4 pack.  Even at these great prices I only have so much money.

Looking forward to seeing these cars in a wide array of paint jobs.

Keep up the good work!