(10/17/23) Train Sets from Menards!

Way to go, Menards!  Just in time for the Christmas season.  What a great way to introduce O Gauge trains to kids of all ages.  Transformer included.   Nice.

So I just picked up the Union Pacific set yesterday (I already have the Santa Fe Beta and caboose so I figured why not) and opened up and put on track this morning.  Very happy with the locomotive, they actually corrected another Beta issue with the horn, it has a nice reverb now instead of just cutting off when you release the button.  The caboose however, is a different story.  It appears the packer smashed it into the too-small foam cradle in the set box, and both ends were separated from the body (literally, pulled them right off of the glue and warped them) and one of the trucks is badly bent, to the point it doesn't track right and looks terrible.  Anyone else have this issue with either of the sets?

Seriously considering this purchase. These locomotives look fantastic and they are nearly scale size. I'm sure they are counting the couplers in the length, but at 1:48 it's 52' long, 10' wide and 14' high. That's right there with an EMD F7. The details are pretty impressive as well considering the price point. This certainly looks like a solid win for Menards. What a great addition to their train inventory!

M&M -- Menards may be the new Marx.

Again Menards promotes an 11% rebate savings and encourages you to shop online but the fine print is unless you live close to a store the 11% rebate savings can not be applied to online orders. This is not a criticism of the product rather the advertising.

Runs great !!

I notice it has a DC wall jack.  Will it work on my conventional AC (Lionel Type V 150W) layout?

@Micro posted:

I notice it has a DC wall jack.  Will it work on my conventional AC (Lionel Type V 150W) layout?

Yes it will

@cabinet Bob posted:

Yes it will

Thank you very much!

Has Menards ever addressed what happens if the remote breaks?

Great news sets in the store.

Mark the Menards Train Guy we would love it for the many of us no where near one of your stores if we could use the rebate forms for on line orders likely would see more sales to those of us not near your stores.

Just wanted to report that we have the Blue Santa Fe Beta engine been running on the home layout and runs great looks good so very happy to see you offering these trains now to everyone.

The UP Beta version we repainted and have used it since it came out (what was it August) till Mid October on our Garden Railway O gauge train layout every weekend 6 hours a day. We have the control unit mounted on the fence for the little kids to run the train. The train has worked very reliably all the time though we have found that the batteries in the remote only make it through 4 days before we have to change them (Lionel LionChief remote batteries last much longer)

The train has run well on the garden railway and sounds work well and been very reliable with our only problem being a wobbly wheel from new. The visitors love to run the train.

@Menards , Great to see this come to fruition. I hope this is a huge success!

SOO LINE has to be a railroad scheme in a future set.

Andrew

Questions for Menards:

I’m thinking about getting the UP set for my nephew’s birthday.  Can the dummy A unit be purchased separately as an add-on?  Can 2 powered A units be controlled by one remote at the same time?  I don’t currently see the powered or dummy A unit sold separately anymore, like they were w the beta models.

@Crazy Train posted:

Questions for Menards:

I’m thinking about getting the UP set for my nephew’s birthday.  Can the dummy A unit be purchased separately as an add-on?  Can 2 powered A units be controlled by one remote at the same time?  I don’t currently see the powered or dummy A unit sold separately anymore, like they were w the beta models.

Hopefully they will see the demand and offer them.  You can probably make one from a Beta unit though by removing the motors.

John

I would love to see a Baltimore and Ohio, Pennsy in tuscan red and brunswick green. Northern Pacific, Southern, New York Central, New Haven, Illinois Central, Wabash, Texas Special and Bessemer and Lake Erie are a few they could think about doing.

I do not think you could make a dummy unit as the thing that holds the truck on is mounted to the motor.

Unless there was a way to remove it from the motor? There might be a screw on the bottom of the motor. But I expect at some point they will release the dummy units.

@Crazy Train posted:

Questions for Menards:

I’m thinking about getting the UP set for my nephew’s birthday.  Can the dummy A unit be purchased separately as an add-on?  Can 2 powered A units be controlled by one remote at the same time?  I don’t currently see the powered or dummy A unit sold separately anymore, like they were w the beta models.

Hi Crazy Train,

Unfortunately, I can't comment on which products are in production at this time.

All UP engines are controlled by the same remote-control frequency. Hypothetically, you could run two at one time. I haven't tried it personally.

Thank you,
Mark the Menards Train Guy

@Menards posted:

Unfortunately, I can't comment on which products are in production at this time.

I don't get this mentality from the manufacturers.

Broadway Limited Imports has their entire planned future production schedule on their web-site at all times.  It is great for those of us waiting for new products. I don't know of any other manufacturers that do this. It would be nice if they all did.