Maybe I’ve been asleep at the wheel, but it seems to me Menards has increased their selection greatly in a short amout of time. They now have Model Power buildings, and I see the total number of train related items (both HO & O) is presently at 582. Much more than I remember.
They seem to be steadily increasing what they have to offer. I don’t have any of the HO scale buildings, but I am interested in the crane that looks like a model of a Liebherr crane.
I think they are doing a great job of getting model railroading exposed to the public.
Mike.
I like them. I have the train station and hobby shop. The buildings come attached to a scenic base and you might have to remove it based on your situation and arrangement. Also, they have fast service when you order.
I have 2 Menards buildings. The Morton Salt Factory and Vetter Sash and Door. These are not buildings that I would put on a serious scale layout but they are well made and beutifully lit. Since my wife is a Blue Bloods fan I am hopping they will make the One Police Plaza Building in HO soon.
There were a lot of trains on display at Menard’s in Columbus, Indiana.
.
I must say… Wally’s Service Station looks very good, and it just might find a home on my layout.
.
-Kevin
.
I’ve got my eye on their die cast material handler. It comes with both magnet and grapple attachments. It would be perfect for the scrap metal yard I’m planning.
Alan
I recently purchased the Menards O-gauge Martion UFO… I was lucky to find a place for it on my layout.
Last year I purchased the Pepsi Plant, which goes great with my layout’s Pepsi Theme… before that I purchased the Morton Salt Factory.
I like them all a lot, however my only complaint is the 4.5 volt AC to DC power adapter that they need… I did buy the 3-plug adapter that has three 30-inch extensions, which will probably work… but I am limited to what I can plug into my power bar under the train layout.
But I would really rather be able to toggle each “building” accessory on or off, especially the Martian UFO that has a motor in the UFO that hoists the cow up and down… I’m wondering how long that motor will last.
It really shouldn’t be an issue since I don’t run my layout for any long periods of time anyways.
I have read where some guys connect a DC transformer to the buildings, but I’m not sure how they go about doing that, or the rewiring involved… I’m very curious on how they do that.
If I post something and I’m wrong, the gurus correct me and I would rather learn than be offended, so here goes. Working from the building backwards.
There are various size barrel connectors. Somebody must know what size Menards uses. There are connectors on ebay that have a barrel on one side and wire terminals on the other.
There are things called buck voltage regulators. On Ebay, from China, they cost about a $1, maybe that is where the name comes from. You can dial down the voltage ot 3.3 V. Anything 4.5v or less should work and Menards buildings I have seen are quite bright at 4.5.
From there you need a bus and a 12 v supply from a wall wart.
I have a fair amount of experience with the DC to DC Buck Converters, three years. I now have eight of them in service.
I wish the UFO was available in HO!
UFOs can be any scale - maybe the aliens are 10 feet tall, then the O scale UFO is perfect for HO. Or maybe they are like 2 feet tall, then the O scale UFO is perfect for G scale. [:D]
–Randy
I have only done a cursory experiment, because I have the HO Wallys service station, but, it seems that the board Menards uses to drive the LED’s and motors is regulated. I have a ‘wall wart’ that has switchable outputs. Anything under 3v and nothing works at all. Lights are not really noticiably dimmer at 3v vs. 4.5v, which leads me to believe the board is regulated. You might have to disconnect the lighting from the board, and/or use pulse width modulation to dim the LEDs, which I can’t stand, because I can see the ‘strobing’ effect on the LEDs.
https://www.walthers.com/ufo-flying-saucer-kit-with-working-lights-5-alien-figures
A little too modern for my era, plus mine would need dynamic brakes. The flying saucer was a hot-shot freight on the Erie, IIRC.
Regards, Ed
There is no such thing as a UFO being the wrong era
True, but no one really reported them until the 40’s. My theory is the aliens aren’t interested until a planet achieves atomic status.
–Randy
Meynards has some great buildings, but they are too expensive for me. Walthers Cornerstone or Pikestuff(for generic buildings) are my preferred picks. If you like their stuff, all the better.
According to some bona fide scientists, octopuses might be from outer space: https://www.newsweek.com/alien-octopuses-outer-space-930942
Roswell got bad reviews.
My theory, we will never be visited by aliens.
The nearest galaxy, Andromeda, is 2.5 million light years from Earth which means it takes light 2.5 million years to get here from there.
When we look at Andromeda, we are not seeing Andromeda as it looks like today, we are seeing Andromeda as it looked 2.5 million years ago.
The people on Andromeda are not seeing Earth as it is today, they are seeing Earth as it was 2.5 million years ago, in other words, they are seeing a planet inhabited by T-Rex!!!
They ain’t a commin here!
I recently bought the HO scale Menards Pepsi plant, and I am very impressed with it, and I got a free package of trees as well.
I am looking at their Starbucks store, but now they are only giving a $6.60 coupon with the purchase. The fine print says you can only use the discount in one of their stores, not on line.
Since I live in Florida, not much chance of me driving to the North Central US to visit one of their stores.
Would it really break their bank account to allow the coupons to be used on line?
They may already be here. Aliens are like ghosts…just because you can’t see one doesn’t mean they don’t exist.