A question that the answer will be unknown for a long time.

Mark at "M" is sitting back, reading this and enjoying all the attention they are getting.

They are a home improvement store that also has a grocery department. I wonder if Kroger is concerned about that.

I FIND their surprisingly good especially for the price.

But their real advantage to you is if you go to the Store and buy a train car where else can you get wood for your project electrical wire, connectors ,screws ,nails ,fasteners , lights, tools they got all that  covered.

rockstars1989 posted:

I have only scanned quickly through the responses.Here is my two cents.SECONDARY MARKET..learn it,live it.You can get Atlas high quality rolling stock OR MTH Premier like new in the boxes for sometimes 20-30 bucks a car people.Why buy low low end product that weighs 3 ounces,is UNDER scale and will be just as USED in a few weeks anyway.Try selling your precious "Menards rolling stock"on the net in a year or so.You will have to pay people to take it.

You obviously havent seen what the Menards Santa Fe boxcars bring on the secondary market...they've been out of stock for awhile - bringing around 50+ bucks on eBay.

  The way I understood it, John Menard was an O gauge train guy in some form or another.

  Store holiday displays and a feel more reminiscent of the old school hardware stores remains, despite the "big box".   The displays in mind, some custom items got made in bulk and sold to offset costs, but various manufacturers wouldn't or couldn't help with future endeavors, so here we are.

 This is an old thread, but twice as interesting with what seems like twice the offerings in 2016-2017.

 Aside from the buildings, the loads are the stars, and likely where the money is.

  My guess is you might just as easily see these loads in a small upstarts toy or vehicle modeling/collecting catalog, as you would to see one at your local partystore or gas station, or partystore/gas station, to the left of the imported wafer cookies, right next to the clear plastic Choo choos and VW"s.

 The brand new empty flats I got for $8 each were of about late post war to MPC starter set quality, about 3/8" shorter than a pw flat. Lighter plastic,, feels thinner walled too.      

  Advancements is plastics make me wonder if I wont be just as surprised as I was about MPC plastic lasting. It too had a lighter feel than PW. Some cars so cheapened it was funny....sad funny, not happy funny...at least these have steel wheels .

More boards, stake holes, and strap points, no end of car foot tread, some extra bar steps, and "sharper" detail, but not much MORE detail. (hey its a flat, so boxars?). More realistic in color at the very least .

  Wheels were a bit wobbly, but my choices were also just the "off season leftovers"; the holiday misfit toy's that didn't sell, got broke or returned...mostly the good unsold left was just U.P.. Lol I guess in in Michigan we prefer our own U.P. (Upper Peninsula)).

  All the remaining plain ones were Penn. & Wisc. Cent., which had seen better days. So I actually built a half dozen good flats from the bad stock, just to get two Pennsy's, leaving the rest for others.  Just swapping wheels and brake wheels to a good chassis, lol. I couldn't let it go. I had to fix all I could. There was way too much "yella", not enough of other the roads, lol.

  At a 4:1 ratio new, you can afford to throw them away vs resale, lol. It's well worth $8 a flat; even with a need for massaging parts a bit. (Remember Menards smallest curve is 0-32", I'm "crying"about it being on 0-27 below↓)

  The all plastic coupler's pocket and knuckle needed light filing for 0-27 curves, but I have similar issues matching this, that, and the other guys at times too; there's even Lionel to Lionel couplers that don't work.

  Bottom line is, the ones I bought are a good toy train car well worth the trivial money; workable into Hi-rail, but not a scale model.

  I could live with 1:48 scale, but actually prefer semiscale to match most post war steam.  3/16ths scale would be great! I have nothing against being scale, or good detail.

  I've said it before, toy manufacturers COULD produce similar, for much less. One look down a store's moterized toy isle just about says it all; just change the shape and add the right wheels.

 Menards is doing it. Albet sans motors at the moment.

  Times like this I DO also wonder about "Battery power changing the face of model railroading as we know it"; but my thoughts stray down the toy train isle (and to the beginner), not into the "experienced modeling" section as past posts intended. A battery powered radio controlled switcher loco sure would come in handy every now and again to retrieve shorted/derailed cars.

   The number of folks into G because of experience with those cheap Holiday Trains, that run well enough to hook folks into upgrading once they find out there is much better, ought to be a lesson for a gauge afraid of dying off   I don't think it hurts the hobby; most folks don't expect much from the cheapies. When cheapies run as good as they often do, it sheds some light on what is possible with upgraded quality. O lacks a cheap conterpart IMO.

  I have had my fun with both "cheap G" and the "real G" alike. Both can run for hours without mishap, or derail in the first bend (trackwork! The great equalizer!) I'd buy either if the price suits the quality well.

  I bought a perfect circle  °  of Menards 0-36 track this year too. All 8 pieces at my door for under $40, and meet my every expectation of it. Again, money well spent, but not a lot.

 I'm so happy to have a company "properly" represent the "entry level" again I can't express it well.

..Yippie!.?

At one time an authorised Lionel store in La Porte TX was a hardware store.  At one time this was very common.  So M having trains is not new.