New Beta Engines available from Menards

@Mike Wyatt posted:

The Local Hobby Shops are disappearing, the "department stores" do not exist as far as toys and hobbies go.  No more Sears or Penny's "toy departments" displaying a line of Lionel, Marx or other trains even at Christmas.   Where CAN new potential hobbyists SEE today's trains??

Enter Menards- at Christmas (and online 12 months a year), you can buy traditional 3-rail track, cars, buildings, and now at least one loco.

At the price, and after watching a video or two of their "F" Units running, they SEEM like a great value.  Backdating - the Menards F units sell for $24 in 1955 dollars.  And a decent-looking, decent-running unit that can be controlled using a handheld remote, with sound, crew talk?  Outstanding.

I applaud Menards' efforts.

Well said, Mike!

Apparently these are arriving even as we type.  Has anyone rewired one to see if they will run AA with an older model (i.e. 3.5), using a single controller?  Maybe start a new thread on your experience? 

Yes Paul, the Tracking says mine is scheduled for delivery tomorrow.

Adding on to my comment when I quoted Mike above; this is why I ordered one.  I thought I would give a little help to getting them on the shelves to fill the void Mike suggested.  

@hokie71 posted:

Apparently these are arriving even as we type.  Has anyone rewired one to see if they will run AA with an older model (i.e. 3.5), using a single controller?  Maybe start a new thread on your experience?

I have a couple of the dummies. The trucks are the same if I recall correctly.

I was thinking I’d do an AA by transferring one of the motors and power over to a dummy - maybe even do pickups.

Just got a text, mine is at the store ready for pick up.   Maybe I can get there this afternoon.

@romiller49 posted:

I can’t believe there are so many people jumping at these Menards beta engines. If you’re looking for an inexpensive low cost engine that will outlive you, they are already out there. Check the larger forum dealers and look at the Bachman engines.

Valid point.  I have a small collection of Williams engines (before Bachmann bought them) without sound that were very affordable when I bought them.  These are work horses that you can run forever and look great.  I keep them in the doomsday corner of my house in case the day arrives where all the fancy electronics in all of my command engines and remotes die, or the Chinese government throws the "on" switch on the tiny, hidden microchips embedded in our command modules to destroy our trains as an act of war, targeting the pillars of the US electronics society only found on this forum.

However, as mentioned, sound and remote control make Menards' engines unique as command products at low prices-- and therein lies their true value IMHO. 

Picked it up. Here it is open boxed. Next to take it out.

Nice to see the Q.C. inspection sticker and extra traction tires.  The different graphic on the front of the remote is an interesting change.  Could be helpful to quickly distinguish it from other similar Menard's remotes.

Thank you for sharing your photographs, KRM!  I agree with your observations, Steve!

I ordered the santa fe along with some santa fe cars frm Menards and received confirmation but when I try to track the delivery I get the following:

There was an error processing your request. Please try again later.

When I try again later, the same message. Is there a number to call?

Well out of the box I am good with it, yeah the horn is a bit off pitch but okay. Plenty of crew talk. I like the volume adjustment on the controller, the engine sounds are fine for me. It runs up to a good speed smooth and runs down well. Does seem to coast to a stop but within reason would rather it follow the controller when slowing down. It is not so fast it will be flying off the table by the grandkids, yet it has a fairly good slow speed. Pulls up my grade fine with very little speed drop and has what seems to be plenty of power.  Nice detail, if there is anything I would change is I am not a fan of the chrome trucks. Would much rather have something just flat silver. But for the money and compared to what you get from Lionel with close features, I am in. Production units should come with instructions.

MOV05811 - YouTube

Manards Santa Fe diesel MOV05812 - YouTube

@John F posted:

I ordered the santa fe along with some santa fe cars frm Menards and received confirmation but when I try to track the delivery I get the following:

There was an error processing your request. Please try again later.

When I try again later, the same message. Is there a number to call?

The Help Center link just has email service it appears

@KRM posted:

Well out of the box I am good with it, yeah the horn is a bit off pitch but okay. Plenty of crew talk. I like the volume adjustment on the controller, the engine sounds are fine for me. It runs up to a good speed smooth and runs down well. Does seem to coast to a stop but within reason would rather it follow the controller when slowing down. It is not so fast it will be flying off the table by the grandkids, yet it has a fairly good slow speed. Pulls up my grade fine with very little speed drop and has what seems to be plenty of power.  Nice detail, if there is anything I would change is I am not a fan of the chrome trucks. Would much rather have something just flat silver. But for the money and compared to what you get from Lionel with close features, I am in. Production units should come with instructions.

MOV05811 - YouTube

Manards Santa Fe diesel MOV05812 - YouTube

Thank you for the initial assessment.  From watching both videos, I would have to agree with you on all points.  I’ll be interested in seeing how it handles a few cars up and down my roughly 5% grades.  

They did it again. Great marketing!

Gary from Michigan 🚂

@Mark Boyce posted:

Thank you for the initial assessment.  From watching both videos, I would have to agree with you on all points.  I’ll be interested in seeing how it handles a few cars up and down my roughly 5% grades.  

Mark, I can tell you this right Now it does not like pulling five 2500 series early 50s post-war passenger cars up my grade. Does it but slows. Not sure if it is wheel slip or power need.

@KRM posted:

Mark, I can tell you this right Now it does not like pulling five 2500 series early 50s post-war passenger cars up my grade. Does it but slows. Not sure if it is wheel slip or power need.

Thank you.  I can run on the level or change levels, so it will be fine if it doesn’t do much uphill.

@KRM  Thank you for the videos and pictures.

I have a Beta 3.5 and it will only go slowly enough for coupling to other cars with my ZW to set 10V and the remote at minimum.  I have not rewired the motors in series, though I may at some point.

Out of curiosity, in your videos, what voltage setting were you using on your ZW?

@SteveH posted:

@KRM  Thank you for the videos and pictures.

I have a Beta 3.5 and it will only go slowly enough for coupling to other cars with my ZW to set 10V and the remote at minimum.  I have not rewired the motors in series, though I may at some point.

Out of curiosity, in your videos, what voltage setting were you using on your ZW?

18 volts Steve, no need to wire these into series. Have not opened it up maybe they already are. If you did they would be too slow. full speed on these some would want more, for me they seem perfect. Like I said I got grand kids.   A switch for conventional running would be a great improvement, but I know all those extras just drive cost. You can't please all of the people all of the time. It all comes down to Cost, price, value.

@KRM  Thank you for this helpful information.  It seems to me as if Menards is making some changes based on the feedback we're giving them.  Better slow speed operation and more gradual starts and stops (among other requests) were mentioned here on the forum with earlier Beta versions.

@Mark Boyce posted:

The Help Center link just has email service it appears

I noticed that and had sent 2 emails to Menards requesting for clarification of where my order is over the last 2 days, but no reply. Hopefully, they will arrive  soon. I really don't like it when a company will not talk to its customers.

@SteveH posted:

@KRM  Thank you for the videos and pictures.

I have a Beta 3.5 and it will only go slowly enough for coupling to other cars with my ZW to set 10V and the remote at minimum.  I have not rewired the motors in series, though I may at some point.

Out of curiosity, in your videos, what voltage setting were you using on your ZW?

I never turn my power up full to run these Steve.  I just adjust the voltage until it operates fairly well.  I don't pay attention to what it actually measures.  Several other Menards owners do the same according to some of their posts.

John

@John F posted:

I noticed that and had sent 2 emails to Menards requesting for clarification of where my order is over the last 2 days, but no reply. Hopefully, they will arrive  soon. I really don't like it when a company will not talk to its customers.

I know, companies don’t like to keep call centers open.  Some are good with replying to emails and others not so good.  I don’t like change.

Don’t you just love those places that want to sell you the goods but try to get a hold of them to solve a problem, not happening.  I still buy 99% of my items from a hobby store.  When I call, they answer, need service, always willing to help.  Easy to sell, hard to keep happy customers.  Been in business all my life, can’t make everyone happy but it is the correct way to run a business..  Thanks to Jack & Matt for doing their best to help us in every way with our love for model trains.  Nice to have some cheaper items out there but most comes from China.  Into the trains for 63 years and a son into it for over 30, we both like looking at what we are buying.  Love the hobby!!

@SteveH posted:

....The different graphic on the front of the remote is an interesting change.  Could be helpful to quickly distinguish it from other similar Menard's remotes.

That graphic of the engine on the remote did catch my eye. My LionChief remotes don't have something that sharp. I've read previously that they also have a simple volume control right on the remote, as opposed to Lionel requiring you to push buttons while turning the speed control. Menards does make an effort to distinguish themselves creatively, especially at this price point.

John

@Mark Boyce posted:

I know, companies don’t like to keep call centers open.  Some are good with replying to emails and others not so good.  I don’t like change.

Finally got tracking numbers for UPS delivery and the engine and cars will arrive today. Will report my impressions.

@John F posted:

Finally got tracking numbers for UPS delivery and the engine and cars will arrive today. Will report my impressions.

That’s great John!  Must have been a glitch.  🤷‍♂️ Mine was scheduled to arrive yesterday, but now is scheduled for today.  

@Craftech posted:

I never turn my power up full to run these Steve.  I just adjust the voltage until it operates fairly well.  I don't pay attention to what it actually measures.  Several other Menards owners do the same according to some of their posts.

John

+ @SteveH - I run mine around 10-12v also.

Question for anyone who has the new beta:  Are those washers in the little plastic packet supposed to be traction tires?  Mine are regular flat rubber washers that look like they belong inside a garden hose.

Yes, they stretch into traction tires.  They are not molded to shape, rather stretch to shape.

I have made it a practice to thoroughly test as many loco control systems as I could ac.quire. Because of lack of availability of the Menard's engine I have never been able to test it. Has anyone who has obtained one done any extensive testing?

@BOB WALKER posted:

I have made it a practice to thoroughly test as many loco control systems as I could ac.quire. Because of lack of availability of the Menard's engine I have never been able to test it. Has anyone who has obtained one done any extensive testing?

Bob, what kind of information are you interested in knowing about Menards' Locomotives?  By my definition of extensive, I've not seen anyone, my self included who has done extensive testing on any of the Menards Beta Locomotives and posted the results here on the forum.

BUT there have been many who have done a good amount of testing and reporting here about their findings, just not all in one thread.  Here is a search I did for potentially relevant topics here on the forum in which you may find answers to some of the questions you may have:

OGR Forum Search for "Menards Beta"

If you want to increase your odds of a timely notification of when these units are being offered for sale, you may want to sign-up for Menards mailing list.  Mail list recipients typically get notifications about Menards' new train products before an announcement is made here.

I received mine today.  Once I had removed the engine from the package, I found one of the horns had broken off.  I can glue it back on.  I may have done it myself, but I wasn’t aware of it.  There is a tiny paint scrape on the top of the engine and an odd mark on the remote front decal under the right hand crew member.  Those aren’t a big deal since it is far less than folks reported on the early betas.

Initial running by itself and pulling a short train of lightweight cars on the level was without incident.  I’ll report back when I put on some heavier scale cars and try it on my steep grades.  Also, I will open it up and take a look see at what’s under the hood.

One question I have since it has nylon gears, am I supposed to get some appropriate lubricant for them?  As folks mentioned, there is no instruction sheet, and I haven’t read of anyone finding one one Menards website.

@Mark Boyce  Sorry about the broken horn.  Mine also had a few minor paint blemishes out of the box.  For the gears, I used a very little bit of Labelle 102 (for plastic gears).  Not sure if this is what's recommended, but it works for me.

@SteveH posted:

@Mark Boyce  Sorry about the broken horn.  Mine also had a few minor paint blemishes out of the box.  For the gears, I used a very little bit of Labelle 102 (for plastic gears).  Not sure if this is what's recommended, but it works for me.

Steve, I just happen to have some Labelle 102 from my HO and N scale days.  Thank you!

My initial impression of the Memard's engine is that it is similar to LionChief based on the remote controller appearance. There is a substantial difference in the overall capabilities and functionalities of many of the available R/C systems. Most are quite good, and generally offer some unique aspect of operation like wireless method employed, handheld remote vs smart device app and speed control customization. Just not sure where the Menard's engine fits in to the control landscape.

This is how mine arrived. Nothing a little glue can’t solve.

Packaging shortcomings also caused similar damage on the first version a couple of years ago. Worth mentioning when you provide feedback to Menards.

Unfortunately, the lack of instructions is not an unusual criticism of Menards' proprietary products. I remember reading a similar concern recently concerning the rocket launching pad.

And last night at the store, I purchased a 1000-lumen Guidesman LED flashlight/power bank (a product exclusively distributed by Menards), which provided no information about battery charging time or charging indicators. (I still don't know the charging time, but I figured out the red LED slightly visible through the output charging port flashes during charging and is a steady red when fully charged -- which is different than the steady red to steady green indicator on a larger Guidesman version.)

So I think it might be wise to ask Menards to provide adequate instructions in future releases.

This evening, I ran a train of 7 modern 2-bay hoppers and a caboose, some MTH Premier and some Lionel.  It pulled with no problem on the level, then up the roughly 5% grade.  It labored up the hill drawing up to 1.8 amps on the Z4000, but pulled them the whole way.  I really didn’t know if it would do that well.  

@Mark Boyce posted:

This evening, I ran a train of 7 modern 2-bay hoppers and a caboose, some MTH Premier and some Lionel.  It pulled with no problem on the level, then up the roughly 5% grade.  It labored up the hill drawing up to 1.8 amps on the Z4000, but pulled them the whole way.  I really didn’t know if it would do that well.  

With the older versions, I found the beta locomotive wasn’t heavy enough so the wheels would spin. Is this the reason you didn’t think it’d make it?

@TheRambles posted:

With the older versions, I found the beta locomotive wasn’t heavy enough so the wheels would spin. Is this the reason you didn’t think it’d make it?

Really I didn’t know what to expect.  I have not seen any of the earlier versions in action.