MENARDS American Power & Light Building

I wonder if a smoke generator could be fitted inside so that the stacks would "work".  I guess I will find out next week when my building arrives.

Looks like a another fantastic building by Menards.  Now if they will manufacture a coal mine building/coaling station with the same size footprint I will be in seventh heaven.

Heaven would be if Menards' decided to transition their branded OGR items from seasonal to devoted floor space as opposed to online.  I have six stores within 35 minutes of me.

Dale Manquen posted:

I wonder if a smoke generator could be fitted inside so that the stacks would "work".  I guess I will find out next week when my building arrives.

You mean like this!    Working on the second stack as I write this.....

-Pete

y

On the back of the building, what is the measurement of the pull thru tunnel ?  I see it is shorter than the full length of the building.

Hi Troy, It measure's a10 3/8"

Got my American Power and Light building yesterday.  Was a little surprised that the building is made of a heavy grade cardstock material rather than plastic.  Not a problem by any means but as compared to the other 2 Menards buildings I have ( the weathered feed and grain building with the lighted truck headlights and the power and light substation) , made me scratch my head a bit.  Building still looks fantastic though. Guess they used the material to cut down on production cost.  Would have liked to see it weathered slightly and a few LEDs INSIDE the pullthru tunnel would have also been a nice touch.  Overall still very pleased.  Now......Menards....please offer up a coal mining building/tipple of the same type of footprint.

Added interior lighting to the pullthru tunnel.

Oops!  I posted this on the wrong thread.  This belongs to the thread about getting the sign sequence to change!!

KISS #2  The pushbutton switch for the mode control has two sets of parallel leads.  One set goes down into the PC board and the other pair stick up into the air, not connected to anything.  I used a dental probe to twist the upper leads sideways so that they touch to permanently close the switch.  It isn't the best or most durable connection, but I don't want to try getting my soldering iron into that cramped area with poor visibility.

Your power plant looks AWESOME!  I love the buildings and the accessories all laid out.  Well done!

Pete

Hope you let us know how you do that with the parts and procedure you used.

Be appreciated.

Larry

Well I had an old lionel lighted station platform that I took apart and used the top roof section with the lights.  The two small pieces of wood that was in the tunnel of the power and light building for shipping pops out.  Placed one at each end of the tunnel to support the roof section of the platform.  The fit is very snug just inside each opening of the tunnel.  Sled the roof section in and wired it to a transformer.  Lights shine very well to light up inside.

Larry Sr. posted:

Pete

Hope you let us know how you do that with the parts and procedure you used.

Be appreciated.

Larry

Here you go Larry.....

I ended up installing 2 Lionel smoke units with tubing and extending the stacks approximately 4 inches. The smoke units operate via a momentary switch at my control board so as to not smoke out my basement.

Thanks for looking.

-Pete

Great work, One day I will have to try that! Love the way it looks!

Pete

I appreciate the detail. Please advise the Lionel part number for the type smoke units. Never done one before but I think I can do this and learn about smoke units at the same time.

Or, is there only one type of Lionel unit? All I need to do is search Lionel parts for a smoke unit?????

Thanks again for the post.

Larry

Larry, the part number I used for my project was Lionel's fan driven smoke unit- part # 6208265200 SMOKE UNIT / 6 OHM.  This unit worked well for me but there are other ones Lionel offers.  If you need any help wiring it up or have any questions feel free to email me.....

-Pete

Thank you Pete.

I will be getting them.

Also, appreciate the extended assistance.

Larry

Finally back in stock!! Went up a little but still a great piece.

JoeG

Trainlover160 posted:

Finally back in stock!! Went up a little but still a great piece.

 

JoeG

I am wondering why the Flat with Military Van is not included ?  

Wish I known it was cardboard before I ordered.

Lee Herr posted:

Wish I known it was cardboard before I ordered.

Me too. I waited for months for this structure and immediately ordered yesterday when it became available on line. $100 for a cardboard structure, regardless of quality is a little steep! No where in their description does it state the material used. I just assumed it was plastic. I will reserve more opinion until the building is in my possession and has a close inspection.

Donald

Are you kidding I thought it was plastic

Lee Herr posted:

Wish I known it was cardboard before I ordered.

This was commented on when the unit first came out. 

I was kind of disappointed myself when I got mine.  Looks good though.  Thought it was going to be the same quality of the feed and grain building.  IMO that is the best quality with the ABS plastic and lighted truck they have come out with thus far.   Still hoping upon hope Menards comes out with a coal mine building/tipple of some sort.

I too have been waiting for re-release of the Power and Light building, but the cardboard thing stopped me from ordering this morning. I have their Dakota Millwork and the Menards Grain Building. The cost difference between the two was not huge, but the quality difference was enormous. The Grain Building was incredible. Dakota Millwork was cardboard, the base has warped and the trees fallen down; and is a prime candidate for going back in the box. I would pay more for American Power and Light built with the same materials used on the Grain Building. Menards really got the look right.

Lee Herr posted:

Wish I known it was cardboard before I ordered.

You and I must have an entirely different definition for "cardboard".  I have one and I think it is very well done and it appears to be made of fiberboard which is a far cry from cardboard.  Menard's  is trying to make affordable items for us to enjoy and using the most cost effective product for a particular building is part of that process.  The fiberboard lends itself well to adding groves  for the look of metal siding they were trying to achieve.

I've been waiting for the second release myself, maybe Mark can enlighten us. Is it card stock, fiberboard (MDF) or ABS?

Mike

DGJONES posted:

Lee Herr posted:

Wish I known it was cardboard before I ordered.

You and I must have an entirely different definition for "cardboard".  I have one and I think it is very well done and it appears to be made of fiberboard which is a far cry from cardboard.  Menard's  is trying to make affordable items for us to enjoy and using the most cost effective product for a particular building is part of that process.  The fiberboard lends itself well to adding groves  for the look of metal siding they were trying to achieve.

I agree !!

DGJONES posted:

Lee Herr posted:

Wish I known it was cardboard before I ordered.

You and I must have an entirely different definition for "cardboard".  I have one and I think it is very well done and it appears to be made of fiberboard which is a far cry from cardboard.  Menard's  is trying to make affordable items for us to enjoy and using the most cost effective product for a particular building is part of that process.  The fiberboard lends itself well to adding groves  for the look of metal siding they were trying to achieve.

I have a different definition about a lot of things in my 72 years. If you like it great, I expected something else and a play on words doesen't make it any different. But I did learn one thing keep my opinions to myself on any form that has a lot of experts.

ezmike posted:

I've been waiting for the second release myself, maybe Mark can enlighten us. Is it card stock, fiberboard (MDF) or ABS?

Mike

Mike,

The American Power and Light is now back in stock! It is constructed of wood (1/8" thick). In my opinion, that is pretty thick card stock.

-Mark the Menards Train Guy

Menards posted:

ezmike posted:

I've been waiting for the second release myself, maybe Mark can enlighten us. Is it card stock, fiberboard (MDF) or ABS?

Mike

Mike,

The American Power and Light is now back in stock! It is constructed of wood (1/8" thick). In my opinion, that is pretty thick card stock.

-Mark the Menards Train Guy

Thanks Mark, that helps.

Mike

ezmike posted:

Menards posted:

ezmike posted:

I've been waiting for the second release myself, maybe Mark can enlighten us. Is it card stock, fiberboard (MDF) or ABS?

Mike

Mike,

The American Power and Light is now back in stock! It is constructed of wood (1/8" thick). In my opinion, that is pretty thick card stock.

-Mark the Menards Train Guy

Thanks Mark, that helps.

Mike

Mike, you might not want to delay purchasing this as the available cart quantity on Menards website shows only 5 available units as of 2:35 PM today, August 29, 2016

Menards posted:

ezmike posted:

I've been waiting for the second release myself, maybe Mark can enlighten us. Is it card stock, fiberboard (MDF) or ABS?

Mike

Mike,

The American Power and Light is now back in stock! It is constructed of wood (1/8" thick). In my opinion, that is pretty thick card stock.

-Mark the Menards Train Guy

Mark, now that this building has been restocked, I need you help obtaining a lamp hood that fits over one of the led lights on the side of the building since one of those lamp fixture shades is MISSING from my building. (Unfortunately I hadn't discovered it until I took it out of the box and by then the building was sold out.) Thinking it might possibly had loosened and fallen off during shipping, a check of the box itself unfortunately did not turn up that missing hood. In fact, examining with a magnifying lens the building's side area where the missing lamp shade/hood should have been attached showed no sign of glue residue or other evidence that a lamp hood had ever even been affixed to that spot -- leading me to wonder whether an assembler responsible for attaching the lamp hoods missed that led and quality control didn't notice before it was boxed.

Your assistance in securing a lamp hood and sending it to me is requested so that my building will be complete and the unshaded led won't stick out like a glaring proverbial "sore thumb."

Thank you, Mark, and hope to receive a reply from you soon. (My email is in my profile.)

ogaugeguy posted:

Mark, now that this building has been restocked, I need you help obtaining a lamp hood that fits over one of the led lights on the side of the building since one of those lamp fixture shades is MISSING from my building. (Unfortunately I hadn't discovered it until I took it out of the box and by then the building was sold out.) Thinking it might possibly had loosened and fallen off during shipping, a check of the box itself unfortunately did not turn up that missing hood. In fact, examining with a magnifying lens the building's side area where the missing lamp shade/hood should have been attached showed no sign of glue residue or other evidence that a lamp hood had ever even been affixed to that spot -- leading me to wonder whether an assembler responsible for attaching the lamp hoods missed that led and quality control didn't notice before it was boxed.

Your assistance in securing a lamp hood and sending it to me is requested so that my building will be complete and the unshaded led won't stick out like a glaring proverbial "sore thumb."

Thank you, Mark, and hope to receive a reply from you soon. (My email is in my profile.)

ogaugeguy,

That's no problem at all! Email sent.

-Mark the Menards Train Guy

ogaugeguy posted:

ezmike posted:

Menards posted:

ezmike posted:

I've been waiting for the second release myself, maybe Mark can enlighten us. Is it card stock, fiberboard (MDF) or ABS?

Mike

Mike,

The American Power and Light is now back in stock! It is constructed of wood (1/8" thick). In my opinion, that is pretty thick card stock.

-Mark the Menards Train Guy

Thanks Mark, that helps.

Mike

Mike, you might not want to delay purchasing this as the available cart quantity on Menards website shows only 5 available units as of 2:35 PM today, August 29, 2016

5 left = Menards has record 3rd Quarter earnings

Just  unpacked  mine ,and very pleasantly surprised. This building much taller than first thought, and has some weight to it. cant wait to take it out of the  plastic and power it up. I am not sure I received the correct order as there was also an Army flat with and Ambulance that I did not order, and was going to call

JoeG

Trainlover160 posted:

Just  unpacked  mine ,and very pleasantly surprised. This building much taller than first thought, and has some weight to it. cant wait to take it out of the  plastic and power it up. I am not sure I received the correct order as there was also an Army flat with and Ambulance that I did not order, and was going to call

 

JoeG

Hi Joe,

They did you a favor, you get the flat with Army van with any railroad purchase over $19.99

I thought I'd get shut out again when I didn't have time during the day (8/29) to order one but I didn't.

Mine arrived yesterday but because I got home late from work I only took it out of the shipping carton. It is as nice as described. I will consider adding the tunnel lighting and smoke units. I see that the smoke unit parts number is posted but Pete, what did you use to extend the smoke stacks?

Tonight it comes out of the plastic and connected to the power hub. Next, make room for it.

Mike

Hi Mike!

i used pvc to extend the stacks. As far as using the fan driven smoke units, Gunrunner John recommended the MTH smoke units which may be a better unit. 

Good luck. Its a great building!

-Pete