Menards New Covered Hopper Comparison

Great info Bob! I really like what Mark and Menards are putting out for the price point. Sure makes it easy for us on a budget to build a big railroad like the big guys!

P.S. Next time you get up to get Mark a beer, tell him thank you also!

Those do look nice.  I'm thinking about buying 4, 6 or 8 of the Burlington Northern boxcars.  I got a 6 pack of the 3 dome tanker cars and they look pretty sharp.  Being new to the hobby, it's very nice to see somebody making cars for $15 to $20 as all the other brands are prohibitively expensive.  When I was contemplating using HO or O for my new shelf layout, I almost went HO simply because the cost of the rolling stock.  I mean $50 to $100 for one piece of rolling stock seems a bit ridiculous to a newcomer to the hobby. 

Something the industry leaders may want to think about:  not everybody in this hobby are rivet counters.  There's a large void waiting to be filled for lower priced rolling stock.   

Hey Train guy, if you get the BN Boxcars, let me know what you think. I also have been looking at them. Also thanks for the heads up about the tankers I have also been looking at them, just don't know what would go with BN or BNSF.

Those look to be almost the same, very close. Thanks for the comparison pictures.

Will do Mike.

Ps.. The Quaker State tankers would go with the BN boxcars, simply because their green

The inside dimensions are slightly different for coal load purposes. The Williams Reproductions model is nearly identical as well, again with a slight difference in inside dimensions. I'd be curious to see a comparison between the Williams and Menards inside measurements. Also, at one time, the Lionel car had a hole on each side in the center for a spreader bar. I didn't see the holes in the comparison example above. The holes must have been eliminated in newer versions.

Don

TrainGuyMcGee posted:

Will do Mike.

Ps.. The Quaker State tankers would go with the BN boxcars, simply because their green

Thanks McGee!

On the Menards version, the pieces that are screwed on to retain the hatch doors look beefier than the ones on the Lionel model.  Good job Menards, gonna have to order a few of these hoppers.

cabinet Bob posted:

Just wanted to show the difference between Menards New Covered Hopper to the L Brand...

Bob:

Thanks for the comparison photos.  One small item deserves noting.  For young operators, the tabs on the couplers on the bottom car allow little hands to more easily uncouple the trains by hand, which they frequently want to do.  Given their short stature, it is very difficult for them to easily "lift and separate" the cars to uncouple them -- even though my train table height is very "child friendly"

I generally solve this issue by placing a freight car with a "tab" coupler directly in front of 3-4 freight cars without tab couplers.   That way, the young boys can uncouple a string of 4-5 cars onto a siding by activating the tab coupler at the head freight car.  Obviously, not an issue if using an uncoupling track, but, still worth pointing out.

Thanks for that side by side......

The Chinese are great at cloning. 

I have a funny story about their 'skills'.  I was working with a plastic model company. We wanted to recreate a model kit that the body mold had been damaged beyond use. So I pulled from my vintage collection the kit and sent the plastic body to China for the manufacture to 'clone'. They cut a new mold and sent me test shots to approve. While looking at the plastic body I saw on the inside of the body a scar like mark......a place the mold had been repaired. A brand new mold being repaired??? NOPE.....the vintage body I sent had the mold repair scar on it......at some point the 1970 mold had been repaired......and they cloned the new mold they added the repair  scar.  

For those who haven't caught on, Menards cars are clones of existing models. Essentially, they are clones of Williams models that were reproductions of Lionel postwar models.

The boxcars are dead giveaways. The underside detail is identical to Williams.

Menards isn't using old tooling. It's Chinese manufacturer made new molds and tooling from an existing model. That's pretty much what Williams did decades ago.

Menards cabooses are pretty much Lionel clones too.  I'm starting to wonder if they're not a hot seller since they've only been released in two road names.  I love the blinking marker lights on the back and wish they'd come out with more of them.

AMCDave posted:

Thanks for that side by side......

The Chinese are great at cloning...I have a funny story about their 'skills'.  .....and they cloned the new mold they added the repair  scar.  

One of my friends who works for a large manufacturing company had the same experience.  A large group of holes drilled into a machine by mistake were faithfully, but, erroneously copied in the cloning process...

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Given this "cloning capability", it would be helpful for children to have the tabs on the couplers "cloned".  By eliminating the tabs, or, the alternative thumb tack coupler activators, many of the freight cars pose a challenge to operation by young children --- who, by their very nature are tactile.  The children are too short to lift the cars off of the opposing coupler to "switch" the cars anywhere they choose to do so.