Menards flat cars

The Menards 14 3/4" flats are scale and look good with other scale flats.  Here is a photo of a Menards flat with Atlas O Trainman and Lionel scale flats.  The deck of the Menards car has some ugly hardware visible, but that can easily be covered up with a load.  The Menards car also has a slight upward bow in the middle, again, this should not seriously affect a load.  For the price, buy one to try out.  Modify it to fit your needs.  

Tom

 Lionel on top, Atlas O Trainman in middle, Menards on bottom

The Menard's 14" flatcars are a great buy for the money, they have nice sprung trucks and a good looking wood deck.  As mentioned, the truck mounting screws can be easily hidden by the load.  Hard to beat for the money.

Tom, and Gunrunnerjohn,

Thank you both for your reply regarding Menards flat cars.  This helps my budget tremendously.  Happy New Year to you both.

Gandydancer 

There's not enough "bow" in the cars to make a difference, maybe 1/8" total over the length.  Truthfully, real flatcars look like that unloaded as well, so they're prototypically accurate.

Heres a few pics for you. These cars are awesome for the price. Maybe not roll the best, but I still like them. Wish Menards would do more "scale" stuff. Pics taken with different cameras. Pardon the duplicates

The Menard's flatcars actually have lower rolling resistance than the boxcars or hoppers, they compare favorably with other makers cars.   The sprung trucks on those are different than the boxcars/hoppers which have a design more like PW freight trucks.