What time of day did you order yours? I received the email at 11:31 EST. Could not order, it was sold out.
I heard about it here first from an earlier receiver of the email. I received my Menards Newsletter email with the Engine in it at 11:55am
I ordered from Menards at 11:02
I think a Pennsy in Tuscan red and Brunswick green would do great. How about a Baltimore and Ohio, Western Maryland, New York Central, Chesapeake and Ohio and a New Haven for starters.
I’m sure once they are happy with them, there will be many more road names.
Steve
I am so thankful to Menards for producing these affordable new locomotives and trains!! Will definitely order from the next batch! JohnA
@jim sutter posted:I think a Pennsy in Tuscan red and Brunswick green would do great. How about a Baltimore and Ohio, Western Maryland, New York Central, Chesapeake and Ohio and a New Haven for starters.
Im in for a DLGE PRR unit single stripe!
As long as the dimensions are correct for an EMD f unit, I'm in at even $150.00! Today you cant buy a new loco or many of its parts at that price. If it comes with 2 can motors and you want tmcc/dcs compatibility, nothing is stopping you from gutting the electronics and installing ERR/ DCS in it! For more details, there are lots of brass parts from psc, o Scale America, American models, P&D hobby shop, etc.
Read the time stamp on this thread. Mark the Menards Train Guy posted it here at about 9:30 a.m. EDT. That’s when the orders started.
Because I follow Mark on this forum and have opted to receive emails on everything he posts, I got an email notification of his post from OGR at 9:36 a.m. and completed my order 18 minutes later.
I must have been asleep at the wheel and missed this one. At less than $150.00 I'll order one next time around. Road name doesn't matter as it will go to the paint shop to become an U.S. Army F3.
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@Jim R. posted:Read the time stamp on this thread. Mark the Menards Train Guy posted it here at about 9:30 a.m. EDT. That’s when the orders started.
Because I follow Mark on this forum and have opted to receive emails on everything he posts, I got an email notification of his post from OGR at 9:36 a.m. and completed my order 18 minutes later.
Same here. I’m on the west coast, but my bladder demanded I get up earlier than I wanted. Glad I did.
Steve
I tried to order as soon as i got the email, but of course sold out... I would have been ordering online, but i think i saw on the website it was only sold in stores??
what a disappointment.
"I tried to order as soon as i got the email, but of course sold out... I would have been ordering online, but i think i saw on the website it was only sold in stores??"
"Only sold in stores" is what their web page defaults to when the sell out of somthing on line. Everyone (all 200) who ordered one of these beta tester first batch of 200 ordered them online.
Unless these somehow turn out to be horrible failure that can not be fixed there will be more.
Could there be a new topic when all of you start receiving and having a chance to enjoy Menard's locomotive. Pics, videos, and opinions...
@TM Terry posted:Could there be a new topic when all of you start receiving and having a chance to enjoy Menard's locomotive. Pics, videos, and opinions...
My guess is that there will be more than one at first and a moderator will combine them. Just a guess.
John
Amazing how fast some things can come and go. 3 hours to sell out 200 units. Congrats to @Menards. If the first criteria of your beta test was "will the established hobby community give it a try?", then I think you have a smashing success. Looking forward to reviews and future road names. you could not have picked a much better model to start with.
All I can say is wow and thank you. Saw the announcement too late to even consider purchasing one but from the video and price of $146 my feed back is great job. Keep the locos coming.
Maybe this was asked already. Is this an introductory price to get folks to provide feedback or do you see this as the pricing moving ahead?
I'm looking forward to more road names!
I applaud Menard's for again introducing a product that is priced and aimed at the entry-level O Scale/gauge modeler, and has some form of handheld control (although I can't find WHAT the Menard's handheld is, exactly). The "other" companies' offerings are similar in price, with handheld control, but (I think) all have small, and only ONE motor.
These Menard's engines should hit a market for parents (and youth) who are tired of the limited pulling power, and (the resulting) motor failures of other "starter set" engines.
Is there an existing B unit that would work with it?
John
@jini5 posted:Congrats Menards Looks good. Now.............Can We have a reissue of the autoracks with the 6 pickup trucks?
Yes, please!
This is a really great offering. I am sorry I missed it but I would like to echo some of the sentiments already written here.
We have purchased a good amount of the rolling stock. I am very pleased with the quality, value, and operation of all the cars we have purchased. My eleven year old was very happy to outfit a couple of different road named trains with some decent consists.
I also think it is great for the hobby that Menard’s is trying their hand at power units. I am looking forward to seeing some run videos real soon even though the Menardsville layout is pretty cool. Thank you Menard’s!
@MartyE posted:Maybe this was asked already. Is this an introductory price to get folks to provide feedback or do you see this as the pricing moving ahead?
I'm looking forward to more road names!
$146.06 is certainly and odd-ball number for a MSRP. Retail pricing normally ends with $.95, $.98 or $.99. It will be interesting to see if the price changes (up or down) once the F-unit goes into full production. I know the post-rebate price ends in $.99, but as has been stated on OGR over multiple posts, not everyone can take advantage of the rebate.
Rusty
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@Rusty Traque posted:$146.06 is certainly and odd-ball number for a MSRP. Retail pricing normally ends with $.95, $.98 or $.99. It will be interesting to see if the price changes (up or down) once the F-unit goes into full production. I know the post-rebate price ends in $.99, but as has been stated on OGR over multiple posts, not everyone can take advantage of the rebate.
Rusty
Thanks Rusty. I guess I need to check my prescription. LOL! I would guess, but maybe wrong, if it goes into full manufacturing the price may increase a bit. Seems low even in "entry level" realm. But who knows. Menard's knows what they need to charge to make it worth while so we'll see where the chips land on the final price. Certainly are getting a lot of attention. I would hope when folks report their findings they can report the facts without the unnecessary drama that sometimes derails a good report.
As far as the odd ball MSRP, I guess it was to it the $.99. Because $129.99 is a better value than $130. 
Has it been mentioned yet whether these engines have there own Wall Wort or do they operate on 18V to the Track?
Just wondering????
I would be interested in hearing about it’s durability and pulling power as well. It does seem to be a good strategy by Menards to gets these locomotives out to the public in limited numbers as a test run. Really interesting to see how this develops.
An F3 is not on my wish list, but if this is successful it will be interesting to see what future engines they do. At 13", their F3 is scale length so I assume the other dimensions are good too. If future engines are also scale sized that would be great (for me).
As a command control engine, does it matter to any of you that it does not have electrocouplers?
@Fredstrains posted:Has it been mentioned yet whether these engines have there own Wall Wort or do they operate on 18V to the Track?
Just wondering????
I would say you use an existing layout with power already available. It seems to me they are just selling an engine and remote.
@CAPPilot posted:As a command control engine, does it matter to any of you that it does not have electrocouplers?
Not at the price point they seem to be shooting for. I think they have a good set of options for the price they are targeting.
Thanks Menards. I'm just happy to see a company willing to make entry level priced locomotives.
Very interested in purchasing.
Would like to see Southeastern US Roadnames available as well. Southern, Clinchfield, etc.
I can’t believe I missed out. That thing looks ten times nicer than my 2014 Lionel Black Widow FT, and command control to boot. Hasn’t Lionel abandoned the base Lionchief? Perhaps Menards licensed it and perhaps that answers the concerns about future service. Either way, I’d be happy to make this my first warbonnet if they do another run. Along with the auto rack! And probably some buildings while I’m at it…
This is what we need. More affordable locomotives that will be fine when the two-year-old dials up full reverse and accordions a freight train.
Menards says the engine weighs 2 pounds 12 ounces. Just our of curiosity, I checked my 8 Lionel Santa Fe F units. he powered units weigh between 4 and 5 pounds each. The dummies between 2 1/2 and 3.
Watching the video, it's obvious the sounds depicted didn't come from the engine shown on screen as there were no background sounds such as wheels on track. I wonder what the fidelity will be. It certainly is a variety of crew talk though.
@MartyE posted:Watching the video, it's obvious the sounds depicted didn't come from the engine shown on screen as there were no background sounds such as wheels on track. I wonder what the fidelity will be. It certainly is a variety of crew talk though.
Amazing amount of crew talk!! Listening to my scanner, UP, BNSF and CN hardly squawk at all except for track warrants. The local Cedar Rapids and Iowa City CRANDIC does alot of talk but only because they switch local industries so mostly conductor to engineer chatter.
I recall that PRR required their crews to call signals, but discontinued now I guess due to PTC implementation.
Anyway can't wait to read beta test results, good, bad, ugly, or "fer git aboud it"
@Dick S posted:Menards says the engine weighs 2 pounds 12 ounces. Just our of curiosity, I checked my 8 Lionel Santa Fe F units. he powered units weigh between 4 and 5 pounds each. The dummies between 2 1/2 and 3.
The video shows a short train and no hill climbing, so that is probably a clue as to traction capability of F3. But certainly would be adequate for kids play value.
If Menards does sets, it will have to supply a hefty transformer, for the first time train under the Christmas tree parents.
If anyone has purchased this and is not able to use the rebate due to their location, please consider donating the rebate portion of the receipt to a museum in a area that has a Menards store. I am involved with the Western Union Junction RR museum in Sturtevant Wisconsin and I know those unused rebate forms could go to a good use towards paint and other items to keep up our equipment we have on display
I was hoping Cabinet Bob would put one through its paces. His reviews have always been very good.
I think it is great Menard's is doing this.
As far as reviews, and so forth: let's make sure to take of our long time O-Gauge enthusiast hat, and look at it for what it is. I see a lot of comments already comparing it to Railking and Lionchief and Lionchief+. Remember, this is not that.
I see many suggestion, and while all good, I think defeat the purpose of this offering from Menard's. Every time we add a feature to make it like "what we're used to", we add cost.
Also, every entry level train does not have to be thought of as a gateway into this as a hobby. It's okay if it truly is juts a toy for play value, with limited or no upgrade ability. I know tons of people/families who just have a simple oval with a cheap train, and that's all they want. This new product is perfect for them. They're not worried about electro-couplers, or ability to run with TMCC/DCS, etc.
I do hope these are successful as I do believe there is a market for it.
@EscapeRocks posted:Also, every entry level train does not have to be thought of as a gateway into this as a hobby. It's okay if it truly is juts a toy for play value, with limited or no upgrade ability. I know tons of people/families who just have a simple oval with a cheap train, and that's all they want. This new product is perfect for them. They're not worried about electro-couplers, or ability to run with TMCC/DCS, etc.
David
Unfortunately there are those who want it all. Remember Lionel offered the LC sets because folks didn't want the "complicated" remotes and just wanted a train that went. Lionel gave it to them and then they wanted to operate several of these engines in one remote. Lionel gave it to them. Then they wanted more features...so on and so on. Now we have LC+2.0. Back to 1 step below Legacy.
Hopefully Menard's can keep those folks in check. There is definitely a market for their offering.
Good for Menard's!! Glad somebody is coming in to fill the void after so many left... Williams, Weaver, K-Line, and pending. And it is not gold-plate priced. If they do a steamer, you better check my pulse, the shock, you know, but l might jump on that!
@BNSF-Matt posted:I should have mine tomorrow or Wednesday so I will post my video review on my channel as soon as I can. I'm going to try and cover as much as possible and do some comparisons with my Legacy Santa Fe for sizing purposes.
Pretty excited for this new entry, I think Menards is on the right track (pun intended)
-Matt
The make-or-break question for me is whether or not it will run conventionally and/or with the Lionel universal remote. Since Menards hasn't replied to my previous post about that, I hope you can include this in your review.
If it only works on the Menards remote, I can see a lot of disappointed kids and inexperienced users when the remote is dropped or lost and they're dead in the water. The folks on this forum know what we expect to get at this price point, but I'm not sure that the casual user will see it the same way.
@Mike Slater posted:If anyone has purchased this and is not able to use the rebate due to their location, please consider donating the rebate portion of the receipt to a museum in a area that has a Menards store. I am involved with the Western Union Junction RR museum in Sturtevant Wisconsin and I know those unused rebate forms could go to a good use towards paint and other items to keep up our equipment we have on display
That's a great idea for those of us on the east coast.
I will look them up.
