Menards ... PLEASE bring back the diecast couplers and trucks!!

@Ethurl1 posted:

I went to Menards last week to get a Hopper car with carload. When I got the car home and opened it up I was surprised to see plastic trucks and couplers. I went over to my other Menards hopper cars from 2019 and earlier and sure enough they all had diecast trucks and couplers. The new plastic trucks and couplers are very poorly made, don't couple, uncouple when not wanted or will not stay closed.

Menards O Gauge train team, If you are monitoring this forum may I suggest going back to the diecast coupler and truck parts for your railcars. What seems to be and is a simple item can be a game changer foran o gauge hobbiest when deciding what to spend their money on. While the total price point is good, spending more time and money on fixing issues with a brand new car is frustrating. I look to see the diecast trucks and couplers back on the shelf.

Eric T.

The previous trucks and wheelsets were just as much trouble and needed constant maintenance.   Axles falling out of trucks, wheels not gauged properly, noisy operations, etc, etc.  Their trucks have always been poor.  A decent truck would earn a lot of new customers.

I agree with @Brian DeFazio. Their trucks have been rough but a bad truck with weight will ride better than a bad truck with no weight.

I guess I replaced the trucks on my Menards stuff anyway. I like their rolling stock to be honest.

@Ethurl1 posted:

I look to see the diecast trucks and couplers back on the shelf ...

Eric,

I hear ya, but ...

Perhaps in your opinion.  But, do not automatically equate plastic with "Menards railcar quality declining".

Brian's hit it on the head.  The diecast trucks and couplers weren't any better.

Maybe the title of this thread should be "Menards railcar quality unchanged", in which case there's no news here, only same-old same-old.

And as far as letting Menards know of your displeasure perhaps you should contact them directly first?  Posting here does nothing.  The rest of us can do nothing about it.

If you're counting on Menards reading your post and doing something, it hasn't happened so far and people have been complaining, previously about the die cast ones, on a regular basis.  There are several threads going back years.

Call them, or if you can't get through, try a bad online review.   Or if you're annoyed enough contact the Better Business Bureau.

Mike

You may get your wish. According to their website those new WWII art box cars have

• Metal trucks and wheels with operating couplers

@BillYo414 posted:

I agree with @Brian DeFazio. Their trucks have been rough but a bad truck with weight will ride better than a bad truck with no weight.

I guess I replaced the trucks on my Menards stuff anyway. I like their rolling stock to be honest.

Why buy the stuff anyway if it is so poorly made? Changing trucks has to wipe out any real or imagined price advantages. I don't own any, anyway, partly because I have enough RS, partly because the product typically is too "traditional" for my tastes, and partly because of threads like this.

@D500 posted:

Why buy the stuff anyway if it is so poorly made? Changing trucks has to wipe out any real or imagined price advantages.

Agreed, but die-hard tinkerers will fix anything, even if brand new.

Mike

The reason it is attractive is that Menards is offering a wide range of product with a lot of unique designs and such at a really cheap price for O gauge stuff, the Menards catalog in the last 3 rail magazine I read had pages of products in terms of rolling stock. Some of what they offer you could get post war traditional versions for the same price or cheaper, but for the unique stuff, like the military trains, it is a bargain price. Menards is not for scale modelers and the cheap price comes with drawbacks it seems. Going with plastic wheelsets is the same reason Lionel did, it is cheaper than die cast metal.  I guess people like the cars and the price is what it boils down to.

@D500 posted:

Why buy the stuff anyway if it is so poorly made? Changing trucks has to wipe out any real or imagined price advantages. I don't own any, anyway, partly because I have enough RS, partly because the product typically is too "traditional" for my tastes, and partly because of threads like this.

I bought them because it's a cheap way to quickly expand my fleet. This is especially true when you consider that I'm the only one visitor to my layout that will notice the scale isn't quite right. My friends and family think the cars are impressive.

Truck replacement definitely negates the price advantage but...

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

die-hard tinkerers will fix anything, even if brand new.

I couldn't have said it better myself! I added a wire sleeve to my tether on my Lionel 0-6-0 last night. I just got it Saturday. I will probably take a paint brush to it shortly and work out a good rope/cable for the swinging bell.

The lure of cheap products is too great, but as a wise man once said ....

“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is wise to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.” - John Ruskin

Maybe I am lucky. I have had zero problems or defects with their metal trucks and couplers.

@bigkid posted:

the cheap price comes with drawbacks it seems.

This is nothing new.

@BillYo414 posted: I added a wire sleeve to my tether on my Lionel 0-6-0 last night. I just got it Saturday. I will probably take a paint brush to it shortly and work out a good rope/cable for the swinging bell.

How about a thread with some photos and a tutorial on this sleeve Bill?

I might hold off on the paint until its past the 1 year warranty. In the event it has to go to NC. I'm concerned the paint might chip off of those wire handrails during shipping.

@bigkid posted:

Going with plastic wheelsets is the same reason Lionel did, it is cheaper than die cast metal.  I guess people like the cars and the price is what it boils down to.

Plastic wheelsets?  I've never seen a Menard's product with plastic wheels.  Yes, they have plastic truck frames, that's quite different than plastic wheels!

@RickO posted:

How about a thread with some photos and a tutorial on this sleeve Bill?

I might hold off on the paint until its past the 1 year warranty. In the event it has to go to NC. I'm concerned the paint might chip off of those wire handrails during shipping.

I will gladly do that but it will probably be a week or so. The schedule is jam packed.