Menards and engines

Not signaling that I am in a specific camp, but all 6 of your reasons are not exclusive to motive power. In fact, all of them could be applied to most of Menards existing train products...

I agree there would be a lot more headaches with motive power, especially returns.  But I think Menards could do well with motive power if they stayed away from "scale" or "scale dimensioned" engines.  The MTH traditional sized engines in the RailKing line would probably do well.

Menards should work out a deal with RMT and bring back the Beep. Great starter loco for the youngsters.

Menards can make anything they want to make.  They can easily go to the Chinese Company that makes Williams by Bachmann Engines.  There is one store that sells  a lot of Williams by B cars and freight engines.  John Menards can go to that company in China and ask them to make an engine for Menards.  Oh yes, all of Bachmann's engines are conventional and they have train sounds, whistle or horn plus a bell--plus they are duplicates of Lionel Post War Train Engines.  The sky is the limit for Menards.  And I am sure the Chinese would welcome his business.  One thing, if Menards sells engines, he will have to have a repair facility to fix the engines if they are defective, etc.  

Added on 09/14/20

Most of the people who walk into Menards are not Toy Train Experts like those of us who read, join, etc OGR Forum.  The lay people who walk into Menards and upon impulse just want a simple engine, etc to run there Menards cars.  Williams by Bachmann makes such trains.  Perhaps Menards could talk with Williams by Bachmann to make a deal for selling there engines at "low" prices.  Or, Menards could go to the company in China to make there engines.  Menards is a "DISCOUNT" company in competition with Lowes, Home Depot, Habor Freight, Walmart, Cosco, etc.  People want a bargain on everything they buy at Menards and they get it.  These people are not looking for a toy train rail system that you need an engineering degree to operate.  

sincerely yours,   railbear601

Many people on the forum want Menards to make conventional semi scale locomotives with no frills (reverse unit and horn/whistle). It's probably not worth it for Menards to do so as there are literally thousands of locomotives like that on the secondary market (Lionel Postwar - modern MTH/Lionel/K-Line/Williams) that can be had for $100 or less. The bottom end of the locomotive market is saturated. 

Given the motorized **** that comes out of China, I am sure Menards could make rolling stock and buildings and such till the cows come home and make a bundle without the headaches of motors.

I hope the OGR staff will consider deleting the threads pertaining to posting a Menards "Wish List".  The OGR Forum is already loaded with "what I want Menards to add to their product line of Nice Price trains".  I personally believe that Mark, The Menards Train Guy, should put up a Request List on the Forum so OGR railroaders can include items they would like for Menards to consider producing in the future.  If there is enough demand for a specific item then there's a good chance it will be discussed at a forthcoming board meeting.

I don't believe producing any motive power in the near future would be cost effective for Menards in light of the fact the market is already flooded with thousands of locomotives, new as well as pre-owned, be they steam, diesel, or electric.  The other option is to contact the Menards model train marketing department direct and make your request known.  I'm quite sure every email received will be taken into consideration to determine which model(s) would sell when placed on the market.

What Menards doesn't need is a warehouse filled with unsold merchandise that they'll end up having to dispose of at under production cost and consequently taking a huge financial loss.  This might just give Menards the High Green to discontinue the sale of model trains altogether...

73

It's harmless fun to speculate, and I'll bet that Menards likes getting their market research done for free.  But do I think that a handful of folks on this forum are enough to get Menards to wade into the engine market?  No. 

I'll be very surprised to ever see Menard's do powered units.

@Lou1985 posted:

Many people on the forum want Menards to make conventional semi scale locomotives with no frills (reverse unit and horn/whistle). It's probably not worth it for Menards to do so as there are literally thousands of locomotives like that on the secondary market (Lionel Postwar - modern MTH/Lionel/K-Line/Williams) that can be had for $100 or less. The bottom end of the locomotive market is saturated. 

I agree with this 100%.  Go to York (in April hopefully) and you'll see more semi-scale no-frills locomotives than you shake all the sticks in the world at.  Combined with the auction sites and THEE auction site that shall remain nameless - there's a huge selection out there.  Not to mention that they are easy to repair and keep running.

With MTH exiting - I could (maybe, possibly, ehh?) see an opening for them with scale-sized (1:48) locomotives with DCC and sound (or ones able to be equipped with compatible hardware from other parties that service the HO market) and maybe a little less detail than the MTH Premier line to bring the price point down.

Part of me thinks that with MTH gone, and depending on what Lionel decides to do with the TMCC/ERR 3rd party integrations, this could be the tipping point to push all of O over to DCC.

All of the PS3 stuff is DCC compatible, and DCC parts and controllers continue to become more affordable.  I think having all the electronics standardized would actually make it easier for manufacturers to play in the market.  If you don't have the R&D costs related to the control system, you could probably put that towards making new molds/dies for things that have never been offered before.

Rule 101 in marketing  “Any Advertising is good Advertising”.

These threads are all in good fun and there are no need to delete them. As a matter of fact Menards creates there own speculative threads and I enjoy reading them. The last one announcing the new water tower which looks great.  

If John Menard wants to produce motive power then we will see it on the shelves at your local store. He is a multifaceted Billionaire (worth over 20 billion) and philanthropist and can pretty much do anything with the train department he wants. Not that it is going to happen but he could purchase MTH lock stock and barrel and it Wouldn’t scratch their bottom line (12.7 billion net sales 2019). He still controls the boardroom if only out of respect.  Train sales aren’t even a blip on their radar, just the hobby of an old man having some fun.   

Because these threads are all about speculation here’s my two cents. Switches aren’t going to happen unless they get ahold of someone else’s tooling and then I still doubt it . Motive power, maybe in a starter set.  No need for a repair department, under warranty with receipt they will just exchange the defective product with new merchandise like they do now. If it gets too costly, then discontinue that part of the program.  When John Menard jr. passes, so will it be with the train department unless they continue the program out of sheer respect for his passion and hobby. 

@rplst8 posted:

I agree with this 100%.  Go to York (in April hopefully) and you'll see more semi-scale no-frills locomotives than you shake all the sticks in the world at.  Combined with the auction sites and THEE auction site that shall remain nameless - there's a huge selection out there.  Not to mention that they are easy to repair and keep running.

Except for one thing... they all run much too fast!  None of them will maintain anything resembling a constant speed, even on supposedly "level" layouts!  A few others won't coast when the power is cut, which makes them a danger to themselves and the trailing consist.  Or they need at least O42 curves.  What I want, what the world really needs (but doesn't know it) is a toy train that runs like a scale model.

Oh I forgot, there's one.  ONE!  The Williams by Bachmann "Old Timer" 4-6-0.  Runs perfect- scale speed WITHOUT gimmicky cruise control.  Kid-friendly: not too much top speed, and coasts nicely when wreck-it-Ralph decides to find out what 'DIR' means (ask me how I know!)

Too bad it's a skinny-boilered 19th-Century prototype in a (mostly) transition-era postwar world.   In any event, one loco does not a railroad make.  ALL new-production traditional locos should be using the WbB 4-6-0 as their performance benchmark.  We should have had a half-dozen visually compatible options by now.  But manufacturers know they can keep the fast gear ratio and charge $200 more for cruise control.  And people keep buying them.  So why should they retool?

Honestly I keep hoping Menards will reissue the K-Line Pacific (the one originally from Marx dies.)  With a flywheel this time!  And really hope they read this!!

@Bill T posted:

Menards should work out a deal with RMT and bring back the Beep. Great starter loco for the youngsters.

And at a realistic price, not the ridiculous “warehouse find” pricing they were last sold at! 

@Vandalia Guy posted:

I could go on and on, but if I were them, I'd be happy with what I'm making now. They probably sell as many as they project the first two weeks and the remaining sales are pure profit.  (This is a wild guess.)

Be happy that they are releasing new items in the off season for your enjoyment. They don't need to sell motive power, so why should they get involved in all the headaches that happen when a mfg does? 

I think Menards sees more "profit" from honey roasted peanut sales.

IMO, toy train sales from Menards is merely a novelty to give folks a bit of that feeling they had seeing toy trains at the local hardware store decades ago.

They obviously know their market, and as long as the main focus stays on drills, hammers, 2'x4's, etc. They can continue to sell a few affordable trains on the side.

If nothing else, its one of the things that makes them "different" than the competition.

Engines from Menards-------NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!! 

Dave

RickO: I agree with you.  I remember going to Western Auto with my grandfather or stepdad and always could be found in the aisle where the Marx trains were.  O27 and HO if I remember correctly.  Menards has revived those exciting days again in our ultre-modern hightech complicated world.  Menards also knows their marketing by offering trains at a price moderate income families can afford.  If they venture into offering locomotives they might well loose some of the Magic that has made them popular thus far.

Nice Price locomotives can be obtained by visiting train shows, flea markets, not to exclude friends and neighbors, who may still have Little Billy's trains stored away that they might even let you have for free.

Finally, a message to Mark, the Menards Train Guy:  Keep up the great work and stick with the traditions that helped make America the greatest country on Planet Earth, period! 

In the event there happens to be a bunch of overstocked items gathering dust in the warehouse, with Thanksgiving not that far away, you might consider a "Turkey Day Blow-Out Sale?  Just an idea you understand, but perhaps it can be brought up at a forthcoming board meeting.

Menards would be foolish to introduce locomotives.  It simply isn't possible to please enough of this market to make a go of it.  The only reason the other companies can hang on is that they started prior to when the current audience developed.  The first time a color was a shade off or a handrail was in the wrong place, all these accolades and cheers will turn to complaints and jeers.  Why would they go to extraordinary lengths to dive into that swamp when they can remain the Good Guys with so little effort?

@david1 posted:

Engines from Menards-------NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!! 

Dave

Mm, I have been told on pretty good authority that Menards has been considering it. That was about a year ago, before the pandemic. 

When ever I asked a manufacturer if they would ever do a specific product, they always answered "we are considering it".

@Bill T posted:

Menards should work out a deal with RMT and bring back the Beep. Great starter loco for the youngsters.

Um... the "beep" mold was lost when Aristo-Craft went bankrupt. No one wants to spend 100,000.00+ for a new mold on an otherwise fantasy loco.

Likely, ain't gonna happin!

Warning: Pure speculation follows...

Market saturation hasn't been much of a determining factor when the have decided to produce traditional sized freight cars.  There is definitely a glut of traditional sized rolling stock on the market.  One thing Menards has done a great job of is offering different road names and new paint schemes on the same basic rail cars.  I could see them doing the same thing with a versatile engine.

If they do dip a toe in these waters, I would guess that they would only produce one type of engine per year, but paint it in many road names.  It could something like a conventional NW2 Switcher that would lend itself to multiple road names.

As far as them handling defects/repairs, they could partner with a repair shop to handle those.  Or they could just exchange the defected product for a new engine.  Keep in mind, a simple conventional engine likely won't need many repairs.

Speaking of partnerships, they could even partner with a control system company, like BlueRail Trains, and use their Bluetooth/DCC boards in the Menards' engines.  Granted this is pure speculation, but it would immediately open the door for Menards to compete at the command control level with limited investment from their perspective.

JD2035RR:  I totally agree with you! 

I also believe that the most logical locomotive Menards should consider to include in their product line is the RMT BANG "ALCO" S-4 Diesel Switcher.  It is the former MARX O27 model (albeit having been completely redesigned by RMT) thus includes much finer detail than the previous MARX model.  I fail to see any problems preventing Menards and RMT working together so they can market the switcher at a Nice Price. 

Item: Unlike steam locomotives (with their many moving parts) the RMT Diesel Switcher, like any machine when operated under normal operating conditions (e.i. properly maintained) should provide plenty of trouble free operation for long periods of time.

Partnerships between unrelated corporate entities rarely work out.  Corporate outlooks, plans and boards of directors change, so the "best made plans" get scrapped and end.

What could work is a "reasonable" license deal involving intangibles and manufacturing molds or, alternatively, a contract manufacturing deal, or, alternatively again. a distributorship deal between Menard's and RMT where the BANG is reborn and both RMT and Menards share in the profits.  No real start-up costs to amortize might yield reasonable pricing, saving "big money" as Menard's likes to advertise.

Chuck