Menards

Just do a forum search for Menard's and all of what you asked has been discussed in very very deep depths.  All your questions have threads out there. 

I do agree the power plant is one of the best deals in the hobby. 

The cars are deals too.....

Don't forget to visit the web-site at Menard's. It's easy to order on-line and have it shipped for free to your nearby store. If you watch closely, the O-gauge Mystery box will show up periodically. It's items that might need a little TLC but usually at about 20 to 25 % lower price. This time of year the retail stores inventory is getting low, and it's usually up on the upper floor in most standard stores. It will come down as they prep for Halloween.

This is the main link to the dedicated train page.

https://www.menards.com/main/h...-menards/c-14331.htm

Yes, search the archives. This question has been asked almost verbatim repeatedly.

Short answer as to the origin of these cars: Most are clones of Williams models, but not produced with Williams tooling. Menards' Chinese manufacturer apparently created new molds from existing cars, so very little design work was necessary. (Note, Williams pretty much did the same thing with Lionel postwar cars decades earlier.)

The MDF buildings, on the other hand, are all original, since there no molds when using MDF as a building material. I'm not sure about the source of the resin buildings, like the massive and heavy Menards Seed & Feed building, which obviously required designs for molds.