Some of them look nice in pictures. I was wondering if they would fit in with other ho buildings. Are they worth the cost?
Dave
Personally, I don’t care for pre-assembled structures. I like to add illumination, sometimes interiors, and particularly weathering. I like to choose my own paint scheme, too, and all of these customizations are much easier to accomplish with kits.
Dave, the Menards buildings - like most pre-built structures - are a little on the pricy side for budget-minded modelers, but they are a solid product from people who clearly love the hobby (and German Shepherd Dogs).
Will they fit in… Hm. I think you will need to answer that for yourself. I find the designs to be reminecent of the tinplate era accessories from Lionel, American Flyer, Ives, etc. But don’t let that scare you off, as it’s probably easier to walk these buildings back to “realistic” than it is to take a conventional kit and add all of the lights and details to them.
It’s your railroad and your time and money, so do what makes you happy.
They appear to be made for them by Woodland Scenics and reflect their origins. That said, they look nice. The Piggy Wiggly resembles the IGA, but gives some competition. There are some nice added details.
If they fit your scene, I wouldn’t hesitate to use them.
Don
I have Morton Salt and Vetter Door and Sash Both are nice detailed structures.
However they are better suited in my opinion to modeler who are not modeling a prototype.
I have Morton Salt, American Power & The Fire Dept. I don’t model the prototype, so they’re fine for me. Are they prototypical? No, are they suitable for my layout? Sure. If anyone questions them, I show them the ‘Exit’ sign!
Neal
The Menards Piggly Wiggly is spot on as the front looks exactly like the Piggly Wiggly that was in my neghborhood in the 50’s were I grew up !!
Hi Dave
To me they look like train set buildings and they apear to be well made from the pictures.
The videos of them look good to.
Would I use them I don’t know that I would pay the price asked it is quite high, I did not see a power supply I could hook into my 12v or 16V power supply so doubtfull.
As I would need that kind of power supply as Australian mains power is different to what is used in the US.
I also don’t like the power supply plug in the side of the building for me that spoils them and limits where they could be placed.
Like others on the forum I prefer to make my own from kits.
But I have to admit the silly flying saucer keeps saying buy me it apeals to the inner child, so does the Brewery as for a brewery it is quite small.
So you never know.
regards John
They are toy liked buildings, fine if you are going that route.
They use 4.5V DC power supply (not Included). I found them on Ebay with no issues. Cheaper than buying them from Menards.
Not my cup of tea. They certainly won’t fit in on my club’s layout. We have a bunch of guys that spend a lot of time making buildings and scenery look as realistic as possible. We’re not going to spoil that by putting toy-like structures anywhere near them.
Remember that Menards’ huge annual train show in Wisconsin (canceled for 2020 alas) is openly billed as a toy train expo, and that their entry into trains was O-27 freight cars and tubular 3 rail track. The Menards nearest my house has a pretty good train section, especially near Christmas - most of it being their own O-27 cars and track, as well as the “O scale” buildings, with a fair scattering of the HO counterparts, some low-end HO train sets, and some scenery stuff that I think is Woodland Scenics. To increase interest and sales, they usually have at least some of them lit up.
Menards’ focus is on the toy side, Lionel compatible, and if they make stuff in O and HO that scale model railroaders at least consider, that is to our benefit. Similarly, not many scale modelers have Placticville structures, but there are some that are used in altered form, and the Plasticville signal bridge has been used by some of the best modelers in O, S and HO.
Menards is probably also aiming at the “Christmas Village” crowd without the cast-on “snow.”
A fair number of the Menards structures look like quite plausible scale models that could be placed on HO and O (and S) layouts without embarassment, such as the stores, the houses, the gas station, and a few others; others are just as clearly extremely compressed mere caricatures of power plants and such for the train set c
Choose carefully and they may have some workable structures. I got a Wally’s service station for Xmas a couple of years ago. My major complaint is that it’s way too bright with the stock lighting and hard to get into to work over the lighting to damp it down. Still there are ways. This isn’t a very good pic and the setting needs some work (I didn’t have the gravel lot in around it yet, probably why I took the pic) but it looks decent.
While there is a side plug for power, this and other more recent structures have a plug underneath to facilitate use on the layout.
Ditto on what mlehman said. They will work on 3V, but won’t be any dimmer, which is a bummer, because I feel they are too bright as well. They seem to use a circuit as some sort of driver for the leds making it hard to control their brightness. Lots of things hot glued together, making getting in there to do any mods difficult.
You can power them with a small Ho transformer and adjust the power to your needs.
Dave
As others have said, my only complaint is that they are too bright. Otherwise, They look OK to me. Yes, a bit pricey but in some cases, if you want it, you have to pay for it. 
dlm
I like the looks of the structures but I wish they would leave off things like sidewalks and perimeter landscaping because it is unlikely it is going to match to the adjoining scenery. I have the hobby shop and one of the houses. The hobby shop has a receptacle on one of the exterior walls which if left exposed would be completely unrealistic. I don’t intend to light mine so it is easily hidden by butting it against an adjoining building. I removed the sidewalk from the hobby shop and when I get around to installing the house, I will cover the perimeter landscaping with my own ground cover.
I do not own any, but I have seen them in person, and a couple have captured my fancy.
The Wally’s Service Station is especially nice, as is the Red Owl.
As a whole, the line is very toy-like, but there are some worth considering.
-Kevin