List mates,
If I may add my $.02 for you to consider. My first post was simply to let people know that they may have a chance before this lot of Menards UP Engines runs out. I pointed out that some may be tired of the Beta tests but some may not.
On the other hand, I have been told that when first meeting someone, you should try and say their names three times so you will remember it latter.
Apparently, the way we are wired, for people like me, very little of the name sinks in the first few times you are introduced.
So extrapolating that theory to a billion dollar operation, repeating problems to Menards may finally sink in if they are repeated. What does it hurt for another list mate to explain their issue? As Frank Sinatra might have pointed out "Look there goes another banana tree plant."
And if someone is willing to stick their neck out to do it, do we really need to play whack a mole? I am sure that in your own way you may think you are helping them avoid wasted effort but it may not come out that way in print.
Finally, Menards, if you permit me to ruin another metaphor, is like an elephant that we are trying to turn in a different direction. Most of the equipment we are seeing as Beta test was probably on a boat when we were first commenting. I agree that it is odd to call them Beta tests. It certainly does not fit the mold of what we are used in other Beta models. However, Menards may be the only train manufacturer that appears to regularly communicate with us directly on a routine basis. It is answering some of our requests for different models. It is not asking us to preorder. It has made changes, good and bad in the past. Reading some of the other discussions about their oil pump, there may be someone at Menards that actually fixes or replaces bad units.
In a world with many problems, there is more positive than negative in our relationship with Menards.
Manny