(12/21/16) Canada Covered Hopper from Menards!

Wonder why they wait till after 12:00 p.m

We're all waiting Mark! Except Bob, I'm sure he has his already! Doing a review even as I text this! LOL

arrsd90 posted:

Wonder why they wait till after 12:00 p.m

My guess…….Menards IT Department may have designated times to upload new train items to their website.

Regards,

Swafford

Swafford posted:

arrsd90 posted:

Wonder why they wait till after 12:00 p.m

My guess…….Menards IT Department may have designated times to upload new train items to their website.

Regards,

Swafford

I used to have a lot of fun trying to scoop Mark with a post on what the release is because the website would update before Mark could post.  They have gotten much better at their coordination!  No more scooping Mark!

My guess is Mark is waiting for Bob's review and an idea what the OGR forum members would be willing to pay!

Because Bob doesn'the get up until then!

We are excited to introduce our newest O gauge hopper car – the Canada Covered Hopper! That’s right, a covered hopper!

Canada Covered Hopper

The Canada Covered Hopper will be a beautiful new addition to your train collection. This O gauge hopper features realistic details, including a chassis with premium metal trucks and operating couplers. This hopper has a red-colored body and detailed Canada Grain logos. It even has a removable cover with opening hatches!

Single (279-3870) Shop Now!
6-Piece Dealer Pack (279-4008) Shop Now!

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Thank you,
Mark the Menards Train Guy

Menards posted:

We are excited to introduce our newest O gauge hopper car – the Canada Covered Hopper! That’s right, a covered hopper!

Canada Covered Hopper

The Canada Covered Hopper will be a beautiful new addition to your train collection. This O gauge hopper features realistic details, including a chassis with premium metal trucks and operating couplers. This hopper has a red-colored body and detailed Canada Grain logos. It even has a removable cover with opening hatches!

Single (279-3870) Shop Now!
6-Piece Dealer Pack (279-4008) Shop Now!

---

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Thank you,
Mark the Menards Train Guy

 

Very cool!!

Thanks for all you do, and keeping us updated with your great new products.

Hey Mark and Bob, thanks for the low price point!

AMCDave posted:

Maybe they tooled a roof for their current coal hopper......much like Lionel did.....

Ding ding ding.......I WON!!! What's ny prize!!!  Looks good Mark! 

Seeing this new release from Menard's takes me back to the good old MPC days. The road names that Menard's could produce are endless At $17.79 this car is a steal.

Come on guys, you need to pay attention to  past pictures I posted.. LOL

jim sutter posted:

This would be nice.

 

Thats pretty, Jim!   Was it from our friends at Weaver?  

I like all of Menards offerings but this one and the Pennsylvania coal hopper are my favorites so far!!

How can a Canadian get these?

No Menards here and their web site would not ship to Canada last time I tried.

I forgot the helicopter flat cars and the deuce and a half with trailer, and...... heck they're all my favorites! LOL

I would like to see this car made.

RADIORON,

Yes, that PS-2 covered hopper car was made by Weaver. They did (150) all red and (150) with a black under frame.

This is a Canadian National/Canadien National slab-sided hopper. One side has Canadian National and the other side has Canadien National.

This exact CN paint scheme can be applied to the O gauge covered hoppers.

Andrew

Terry Danks posted:

How can a Canadian get these?

No Menards here and their web site would not ship to Canada last time I tried.

I was thinking the same thing ... wanted those CN box cars as well.

Just a thought, you could always have someone in the US buy it and ship it to you.

There has to be Menards store close to the Canadian border.

Somebody living in a Northern USA state could send you the freight cars.

Andrew

You could use the Menards store finder and then see if anyone that's near that is willing to ship to you!

Terry Danks posted:

How can a Canadian get these?

No Menards here and their web site would not ship to Canada last time I tried.

No problem. I could buy it for you and send it,just let me know.. Bob

Is CABINET BOB really Santa Claus?

Could Be, But also a Menards secret product tester!

Terry Danks posted:

How can a Canadian get these?

No Menards here and their web site would not ship to Canada last time I tried.

If you have a fellow train nut who lives close to the border, you can research the businesses that do parcel depot service on the US side and ship the 'non-shippable to Canada' stuff there and have it picked up, or make the trip yourself if the order is worthwhile.

Thanks to those that answered my question.

Redball342

So happy it wasn't something I needed LOL

I E mailed Menards once about their freight cars.   The lady said they WILL ship to Canada.  Must phone them and have a credit card  for them.  They would pack everything up and charge you what it costs.   I did not ask if they added a handling fee.

jim sutter posted:

Seeing this new release from Menard's takes me back to the good old MPC days.   At $17.79 this car is a steal.

But it is NOT $17.97 because most of us cannot take advantage of the Menard's "Rebate."

Yup, as LARRY3RAILTRAINS wrote above, you have to call them as their web processing can't handle international orders.

If you do call, I'd love to hear what the CDN cost of a $19.99 US car comes to delivered?

1.35% exchange rate, GST, delivery and brokerage fees.  Did I miss anything?   Sigh.....

Some US business' ship to Canada and will use the US Postal Service if you ask.  You do not want to use Fedex or UPS.  Expensive and they charge an extra large fee for crossing the border.

Some don't ship to Canada or will only use a carrier like UPS.

I use a "drop box", a US mailing address just over the border.  It is free to obtain one and you only pay $6 CND for each parcel you receive there.

Generally your cost to ship to your US address is considerably cheaper than shipping to Canada which helps mitigate the cost of this type of arrangement.

It is your responsibility to take it from there.  Contact me off line if you want more info on this.

To do this you will need the following:

1) Proximity to the US border.

2) A valid Passport

3) A willingness to buy things you probably don't need.....after all the addiction must be fed !!

Cheers

Dave

RadioRon posted:

jim sutter posted:

Seeing this new release from Menard's takes me back to the good old MPC days.   At $17.79 this car is a steal.

But it is NOT $17.97 because most of us cannot take advantage of the Menard's "Rebate."

That's why I waited for the "free flatcar with each 19.99 train item" promotion instead:

(the ninth item is the "mega crane", which also counted as a train item )

--PCJ

I always wait for the free promotions, then put in a big order to take full advantage! Living in upstate NY, the Ohio, Midwest 11% rebates are just something to live through, like root canals! LOL

Many thanks for the suggestions for a CDN to buy these, especially Bob who offered to ship them to me. But my ardor was cooled when I saw they are not cylindricals. I have no personal recollection of seeing this style of car carrying grain. The cylindicals are, of course, absolutely common place up here!

This hopper is sort of like asking for alpine skis and getting cross country skis.  Sure, they are both skis, but the difference is voluminous. 

This hopper is sort of like asking for alpine skis and getting cross country skis.  Sure, they are both skis, but the difference is voluminous. 

It is more than obvious now, the types and sorts of products Menards is producing. AMC Dave is not the only one who figured out the obvious: That Menards would add a cover to their existing hopper. I was going to say so, but was too busy laughing at all the photos of cylindrical hoppers wondering why is it every time Menards announces a teaser people jump in with totally impractical ideas given Menards business model thus far?

Menards structures have been the exception, but there's no tooling and die costs for these.

Could Menards tool up some new scale rolling stock products? It's potentially possible. The flat car was something of a surprise to me, but then again, the R&D for a flat car is less costly and complicated than for other types of rolling stock, such as a cylindrical hopper. Obviously though, some people would like this. BUT would they sell in quantities enough to recoup the R&D without having to raise prices across the board the way Lionel does. Weaver was only producing 5-8,000 units per year, total production, meaning no single piece of rolling stock was even at a run of one thousand. Lionel is the industry leader and most likely sells more, but even Lionel's scale products are small production runs.

Every time I see a new announcement from 3rd Rail Sunset, I wish it would be traditionally sized. Instead of selling one hundred units, maybe he could sell a few thousand. Scott personally monitors his production, so it would be a good product. And since he doesn't have access to the other company's technology, it would be a conventional engine... even better!

BUT that's NOT the 3rd Rail Sunset business model, so why bother asking. Same for Atlas. I'd like to see them put some very serious emphasis on the Industrial Rail line. With Lionel's pricing for traditional products, NOW would be a great time to jump in on that market... which is precisely what Menards is doing.

Furthermore, to add to the logic of putting a cover on the existing Menards hopper, is that neither WBB or Lionel ever offered this new paint scheme on their versions of this hopper. And there are lots of other schemes that could be placed upon this car, never done before by either WBB or Lionel.

Every train company has to assess how quickly they can make a return on any new tooling investment, which also includes the R&D to get the product accurate enough to please the more discerning and demanding scale market. Remember, when Menards first offered the scale flat car, there was complaining about the accuracy of that product, regardless of the price.

Menards is doing a great job with their train product line. I would imagine they are trying to please the greatest number of consumers, gaining the best return on their investments. Like all the other train companies, Menards has not been immune to product defects. BUT Menards has gone the extra length to take care of the customer. AND has made improvements to their products. And most of us have noticed this, so what's not to be thankful and appreciative for?

Mark is frequently on this forum, making product announcements, and answering questions as well as taking note of suggestions. He also has to put up with some of the same grumbles and complaints being made over and over again.

Sorry folks, if there's not a Menards in your town, sell your house and move to a town where there is a Menards. The money you'll save using the Menards rebates will easily make up for the money you might lose selling your house and having to take a new job where could potentially make less money. Seriously, even without the rebate, these Menards products are still a bargain!

TRUTH is, we have a lot to be thankful for in this hobby. And if Menards isn't making a cylindrical hopper, not to worry: Lionel, MTH and Atlas have made them.

I love Menards. I live 5 minutes from one and have remodeled my house using Menards products.  I'm there two or three times a week.  I have friends that work there and many of the staff know me.  I also own a train load of the Train Stuff.  I think this car in the CSX paint scheme looks fabulous.  That said, I don't regret my ski metaphor in the least.  There are plenty of people who love x-country sking and would be delighted to recieve them. 

Kinda knew it would not be a cylindrical hopper......unless Menard's had gotten the Weaver tool somehow.  Maybe once Lionel gets the Weaver stuff up and running they will offer custom runs as Weaver did......then someone can pay for a Canada grain version......much like the beer reefers done a while back.