Menard's Boxcars?

[BARailroad]

I noticed that Menard's is offering boxcars for less than $20 with die cast trucks.  Does anyone know the manufacturer of these boxcars?  I'm thinking they are WBB cars.  They look to be a very good deal.  

[Bob Keller]

We had a sample in for photography and I didn't see any markings on the shell or frame.

[phillyreading]

It's difficult to say who made the boxcar just from a photo. If somebody had the boxcar in front of them then he could tell. I doubt that it is a WBB at a $20.00 price tag, maybe a K-Line or RMT. If you look at the new prices in the WBB catalog you may need smelling salts to wake up, as the prices have gone up again!

[BARailroad]

I still think they look like Williams cars.  The details like the brake gear, ladders, and door rails fastened with rivets sure remind me of WBB.  The cars pictured in the ad don't look like any K-line or RMT cars I have.  If these are Williams cars they are a real deal compared to the usual MSRP.

[Penny Trains]

The Menard's ad on pg 13 has a Lionel logo on it.

Becky

[David Barker]

When I saw a piece I liked, it was bought to run.  This is good buy most likely if it will be used!

[BARailroad]

I did see the Lionel logo on the ad, Becky.  It must be because of the FasTrack Menard's is selling.  Those cars pictured are not Lionel.  "No way, no how."   Lionels never sell for $19.99, even the cheapies with the plastic trucks.

[Firelock76]

What I want to know is when is someone going to come out with a Shop-Rite car, or a Shop-Rite train set for that matter?

If you're a Jersey guy or gal you'll understand.

Menards?  Don't care about them, not from my part of the country.

[BARailroad]

Did you look at the cars?  They are Southern, BN, NP, PRR, Santa Fe, and Milwaukee Rd to name a few.  They even offer a Maine Central car on their web site.  I'd much rather have cars lettered for real railroads than for some supermarket.

I think Menards is offering some nice looking boxcars  for a very reasonable price.  Not many retailers are as supportive of O gauge trains as they are.  For that reason, I do care about them.

[ADCX Rob]

Firelock76

What I want to know is when is someone going to come out with a Shop-Rite car, or a Shop-Rite train set for that matter?

Even better(If you're a Cherry Hill New Jersey guy or gal you'll understand):

[Andrew Falconer]

Bachmann is owned by Kader. These items are made by Kader at Sanda Kan in China.

 

They are made without the middle man mark-up of distributors and additional dealers.

 

The box cars are made in the same factory as all Bachmann and Williams Trains items.

 

Andrew

[Andrew Falconer]

Take a look on the MENARDS website under the Department called Menards collectables.

There is the category of Train, Die-Cast & Village Collections.

The numerous railroad name box cars can be shipped to your home for a price or shipped to the store for free.

You have to order them, the stores do not stock them.

 

Chicago & NorthWestern

Santa Fe

Pennsylvania

SOUTHERN Railway

Burlington Northern

Milwaukee Road

Northern Pacific

Wisconsin Central

 

Weathered version for

Maine Central

Soo Line

 

[ADCX Rob]

Here is the ATSF car:

[ADCX Rob]

Maine Central:

[BARailroad]

Thank you Andrew, for the information.  I knew those cars look like Williams.  I'm going to order a few of them.  

[David Barker]

Good  move

[Firelock76]

Per Mr. Rob's posting of that Lionel Wegmans train:

See, Mr. Rob gets it!  I saw one of those sets at a Wegmans in Collegeville PA several years ago, it was very reasonably priced and man was I tempted!

I'm still holding out for a Shop-Rite train though.

I should add I wasn't aware Menards was putting out any boxcars, or anything else for that matter, with anything other than "Menards"  on the side.

Putting out a variety of boxcars, reasonably priced, with real road names?  Good for them!

[palaz1954]

Also just realized that the Menards buildings are made by Woodland scenic and therefore the led light kits are great to replace the ones I have problems with.

[Andrew Falconer]

All of the O gauge boxcars on the Menards websites have been sold out and the images are gone from the website.

 

This quick sale of everything could give them the incentive to offer open-top hopper, covered hoppers, gondolas, or refrigerator cars in the coming year.

 

Andrew

[Bob Keller]

These are not sold out yet.

The rep I speak to about train products for the magazine told me some weeks back that they would be available for ordering online April 1st and to expect shipment in May.

He also said they would only be offered online until Fall (presumably making room for more new Menards train items. So I expect them to be online next Tuesday.

[Andrew Falconer]

I just found out that they put them up too early, because they usually remove something when it is sold out.

Now everybody has two more months to decide what boxcars they plan to order.

[overall]

Maybe they will offer a boxed set of all of them. I would get them all because they look pretty good and they are from the era I like the best. I wish the Southern boxcar was the darker "boxcar" red because every one of them I saw from trackside was that color red. I never saw one that bright shade of red that I remember..

[ADCX Rob]

Andrew Falconer

Bachmann is owned by Kader. These items are made by Kader at Sanda Kan in China.

WBB/Bachmann has gone on record that they(& Kader/Sanda Kan) have nothing to do with the Menards cars and did not manufacture them.

They are Chinese clones of Williams.

[Andrew Falconer]

The clones are most likely made in the same area in China.

 

As of January 2017 the Menards website has many new box cars, flat cars, tank cars, and hoppers available. They are similar to the Lionel and Williams cars, but not exact copies.

[watinva]

I am a fan of the AMT/KMT/Kusan boxcars and these Menards boxcars appear to be from the same design. Big thanks to Menards for providing these at affordable prices.