Had to get a Menards O car to see what all the buz is about .. well its Not O gauage (my review Good and Bad)

I think you are confused.  0 & 027 refers to gauge from outside rail to outside rail of track, with only difference in rail height.  0 is 11/16" high, 027 is 7/16" high.  You must be talking about scale, which refers to size compared to a real life car.  I have no Menards to say or see what you are comparing.  ???

The trucks are O gauge.

The caboose is close to 1:64th scale in dimensions.

If you can purchase a Railroad Scale Ruler, you can see that the length and height dimensions of the caboose body make more sense in 1:64th scale than in 1:48th scale.

Andrew

I did a pretty inclusive review of the Menard's Reading boxcars.  Other than a slight difference in width, they seem scale sized to me when compared to my Lionel Vision Line PFE Reefers.

Size Comparison of Menard's Reading Boxcars and Lionel VL PFE Reefers

Looks close enough to scale for me.

Not sure where the confusion over 'made in China' comes in...that has been discussed to death here on the forum. Menard's did not establish a factory of their own just to build O scale trains. MTH nor Lionel have factories manufacturing trains (exception is Lionel's new manufacturing of Weaver items).  Like 99.9% of our model trains they are made by an outside vendor. 

Try a box car....they are O 1/48 scale and well done.....the caboose was very mildly received. 

In the real  train world not all rail cars or cabooses are built to the same dimensions in length or width. Just so they clear the bridges and tunnels.

True Jim, but most 40' boxcars were fairly close to 40'.

My Menards hoppers are super close to O scale.  The boxcars are a bit smaller than my O scale boxcars by not by much.  They are significantly bigger than Lionel toy train boxcars that came with the O27 track.

Lastly, go to a rail yard.  Look at the cars.  They all vary in size even the same style of cars.

My only complaint is that I'm having issues with the Menards wheel sets sparking and shorting at a few Gargraves switches.  I was able to make minor adjustments to the switch to stop it.  What really surprised my was that my Menards test boxcar sparked passing through a Ross switch!  That really surprised me.  I will be working on that issue. 

I think most understand what you mean, but "semi-scale" might be a better term. Some 0-27 was actually the same scale as the O counterparts; it actually refers only to the items guaranteed ability to take on a 27" outer diameter tracks curve.

The cabooses and freight cars are made on or near the Bachmann production line in China.

I always consider semi-scale to not be a true 1:48 scale, I never heard it specifically applied to O27 curves.  In any case, I think we're talking sizes here, but I could be wrong.

John C. posted:

  The boxcars are a bit smaller than my O scale boxcars by not by much.  They are significantly bigger than Lionel toy train boxcars that came with the O27 track.

 

The Menard's box cars are actually bigger than scale!! It depends on which prototype you scale off of. I looked for a real box car close to the Menard's car. In my scale PRR drawings I found a plan for PRR class X-29 box car. The Menard's box car scale out bigger than the real X-29....but only by 3 - 4 SCALE  inches in any dimension....it's a tiny bit bigger.  So technically they are scale.

SO much confusion over O and O27... you've got atleast the following:

• O27 - less expensive train sets designed to run on 27" curves that are usually closer to 1:64 scale. Runs on O gauge track with rails spaced 1 1/4 apart (either O27 or O profile).
• Traditional O - Selectively scaled to fit the traditional Lionel Postwar 31" curves. Runs on O gauge track (either O27 or O profile of requisite curvature)
• Standard O - Pretty darn close to 1:48 - may require larger O gauge curves (either O27 or O profile of requisite curvature)
• Scale O - About as close to 1:48 you can get - may require larger O gague curves (either O27 or O profile of requisite curvature)

Other terms

• Tinplate - toy like trains that are have a typical construction of stamped metal and lithography.
• 2RS - 2 Rail Scale - near perfect 1:48 modeling on 2 rails.
• 3RS - near perfect scale modeling excepting 3rd rail track.

Clear as mud for everyone!

Note: Not everyone may agree on the distinctions above, but it is a fair starting place.

Oh, I find my Menards Boxcars to be essentially Traditional Sized.

AMCDave posted:

The Menard's box cars are actually bigger than scale!! It depends on which prototype you scale off of. 

Yes, it would depend on the type of car. The Menard's cars are nice, particularly for the price. However, compared to some scale cars, the Menard's cars are significantly smaller (and of course, much less detailed). There were, however, many sizes of cars in the prototype world. The Menard's cars will work fine mixed in, for many operators.

Below are some shots of a Menards boxcar, together with one of Lionel's common scale PS-1 boxcars. 

Correct....but that logic means your Green Bay car is too small compared to the Lionel 86 High Cube box car!!!

The Pennsylvania Railroad X-29 box car was a smaller car compared to 1950's - 60 era box cars.  But being smaller does not make it 'not scale'.

Level of detail never entered my comparisons.  I agree 100% the Menard's cars do not have the same level of detail as a Weaver or high end MTH or Lionel.....but when they sell theirs for $19.99 I'll be just as impressed.

Kinda apples and Oranges when you only look at level of detail. 

bmoran4 posted:

SO much confusion over O and O27... you've got atleast the following:

 

• O27 - less expensive train sets designed to run on 27" curves that are usually closer to 1:64 scale. Runs on O gauge track with rails spaced 1 1/4 apart (either O27 or O profile).
• Traditional O - Selectively scaled to fit the traditional Lionel Postwar 31" curves. Runs on O gauge track (either O27 or O profile of requisite curvature)
• Standard O - Pretty darn close to 1:48 - may require larger O gauge curves (either O27 or O profile of requisite curvature)
• Scale O - About as close to 1:48 you can get - may require larger O gague curves (either O27 or O profile of requisite curvature)

Other terms

• Tinplate - toy like trains that are have a typical construction of stamped metal and lithography.
• 2RS - 2 Rail Scale - near perfect 1:48 modeling on 2 rails.
• 3RS - near perfect scale modeling excepting 3rd rail track.

 

Clear as mud for everyone!

Note: Not everyone may agree on the distinctions above, but it is a fair starting place.

Oh, I find my Menards Boxcars to be essentially Traditional Sized.

Want real confusion ask about 'G' scale!!!!

I love to see a mixed freight coming out of Conway  yard with a complete mish-mash of cars of all types and sizes.  I have two On3 cars with Lionel trucks running. 

I here ya .... the previous post ( had trouble getting this text in it ) is a Pic of  - Lt To Rt -  027 Lionel Scout Caboose .. Menards and MTH Rail king . All I am saying is the Menards. is almost exactly the same size as the 027 Lionel Scout to small for me to run with my O.

According to my scale ruler the O scale is 1/4 " = 1ft ... so the Menards & Scout doors are about 4 1/2 ft tall the Rail king door is 6 ft' tall. So I believe the Menards caboose is 3/16 " to the ft. making it Sn3 (whatever that is) not O , which makes it look very out of place behind my O trains.

Glad to here the box cars are closer to O,  mixed size Box Cars are are typical in a train.

As far as the Made in China stamped on the bottom of the car... Their add in OGR says we make all of our ITEMS in our factories & Sell direct to you .. I mistakenly took that as all items, however the add is for their buildings so my mistake, sorry if they are making their own buildings but not the trains. 

Bottom Line - our beloved Train Hobby / Obsession, needs more competition, and hats off to Menards for jumping in, I am glad they are doing well and hope they continue to do so.

Thanks for putting up with me you all

Menard's prices are the right size for me! Lol!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I always consider semi-scale to not be a true 1:48 scale, I never heard it specifically applied to O27 curves.  In any case, I think we're talking sizes here, but I could be wrong.

Sorry, by "it actually refers to a guarantee" I ment 0-27 means it will do 27" . E.G.- early Lionel SWs come as O with a three digit ID#, or 0-27 with four digit ID  but are the same size, and have the same parts. An item unable to make the 0-27 turnout without bumping the coil housing was an O item.

Not all O will fail on 0-27, but no item ive heard of labeled as 0-27 will fail a 0-27 curve. I.e. 0-27 is only a promise of min. curve dia. and has little to do with scale except by generalization/slang.

I see things as scale, near scale, overscale(1:43/1:45),&  semiscale.

I don't really like the term much either; too general. Plus, I've always thought Lionel semiscale looked bigger than AF. More like 1:56.

C'mon a $20-$25 dollar car. Not everything has to be gone over with a fine tooth comb in this hobby. Lets just enjoy the new offerings from Menard's especially the price. I don't see any other manufacturer jumping in the fire!!

Jeff

I view the lack of delicate details to be an advantage for how I use them.  Carrying them around to modular shows, the delicate details tend to get broken.

jim pastorius posted:

In the real  train world not all rail cars or cabooses are built to the same dimensions in length or width. Just so they clear the bridges and tunnels.

I believe you'll find that 99.99% of the prototype freight cars are 10'wide. 

With the exception of dome cars built for the C&O and B&O, bridges and tunnels are built to clear the cars, not the other way around.   As freight cars got larger, bridges and tunnels were redone or replaced to increase clearances for the larger cars if needed.  When double stack cars came into general use, tunnels had to have their clearances increased.

Rusty

I disagree. I have spent too many hours track side watching trains go by. Even covered grain hoppers vary in size and length.  Yes, there are projects now to increase clearances but not in the 50s-70s.  Were and still are using  tracks, tunnels and bridges that were built many years ago.

My menards caboose is a dead ringer for the other 5 Lionel cabooses, cabeeses, cabooseseses, (what ever you prefer). So exact, that I used a broken lionel caboose to figure out how to take the menards one apart. I took some 2000 grit paper, and wet sanded the northwestern printing off. Unlettered, and with a black roof, it completely blends in with my Pennsy box cars. It actually looks great. Although the blinking lights aren't "typical" they add enough "look at me" that the kids at our public layout notice it, and they love it,, and that's what this is all about.

I have 5 Menard's cars and like them for the price. The hoppers look very good and the boxcars look good too, plus they have different numbers(unlike Lionel) on each car that I have bought. Don't have a caboose so I won't comment on them.

Also the Menards cars don't break the bank like other brands do.

Lee Fritz

Got 8 Menard's box cars for my birthday. So would have gotten 2 or 3 of other brand call me crazy but would rather have more to run. You must have a lot better eye sight then I do when cars are running to worry about the details. As stated before apples to grapes if you don't like them don't buy them. You are still free in this country to pick and choose. As for sparking through Ross turnouts the wheels are to close together. Move them out with your preferred method and that will stop. The trucks may need adjusted in a bit also. Seriously what do you want for $19.99 or less depending on how many bought or the 11% rebates they offer.   

The only size issue I had was the scale of the caboose they offer! But nice, I too like the lights and so do the kids! I run the box cars behind MTH Premier and Railking diesels and have no problem with the way they look or run! I love the fact that I have many more boxcars, hoppers, flat cars with interesting loads than I would if I was buying from the " big" manufacturers and paying those prices! Add to that hundreds of free trees and I'm happy! Besides, size hasn't mattered to me since college! LOL Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

play trains posted:

The only size issue I had was the scale of the caboose they offer! But nice, I too like the lights and so do the kids! I run the box cars behind MTH Premier and Railking diesels and have no problem with the way they look or run! I love the fact that I have many more boxcars, hoppers, flat cars with interesting loads than I would if I was buying from the " big" manufacturers and paying those prices! Add to that hundreds of free trees and I'm happy! Besides, size hasn't mattered to me since college! LOL Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

I noticed you didn't  show up yesterday to help plant trees ...LOL

Bob, I'm 6'3"! can't fit in your new crane! LOL

I think its a nice little caboose for the cost and I really like the warning light. Here's a short video of my BNSF train.

franktrain

So how do you pull the wheels out?  My biggest issue has been tracking through my Ross switches.  The wheel sets seem out of alignment and have too much play in them causing them to derail at switches.  How do you pull them further out so they are tighter on the rails?  And yes, all my other manufacturers rolling stock rolls right through like the switch isn't there.  Any help is appreciated.  BigRail

I take the trucks off and bend them in a bit so the axles don't seem like there going to fall out of the ends. Then I take a set of calipers set them to a little under the NMRA standards and take big screw driver and very carefully move them out to the gage and also try to center them in the truck. And before anyone says that's the the wrong way as I stated above your preferred method.