While sets of that nature were common in the 1950s and ’60s, the fact that in the 21st century the Menards chain thinks trains are an important enough element of the Christmas season to market a custom-run train set is terrific. This isn’t the first Menards Christmas set, but it is the first we’ve latched on to. I’m stoked to see it!
Previous Menards sets have included the Chicago & North Western, Milwaukee Road, Soo Line, and Wisconsin Central. The neat thing is all of them have a tie-in to Wisconsin, the home base of Menards.
The locomotive
The set is powered by Lionel’s 0-8-0, which seems to have become the firm’s standard steam starter set locomotive, sidelining the venerable 4-4-2. This is a big bruiser that looks like it could haul a load of ore cars or coal loads without a sweat.
It looks like it is based on a U.S. Railway Administration (a temporary World War I government creation) standard 0-8-0 design or a postwar USRA clone. Many railroads found USRA designs to be practical, and they continued to make variations of their designs long after the agency had evaporated.
A major selling factor for the locomotive, whether the new owner is 6 or 60, is its heft. The locomotive has a die-cast metal shell that adds considerable weight to the model.
The big, bulky locomotive has a good level of detail from front to back. The smokebox has good rivet and latch detail, and the steps on the pilot beg for you to add a brakeman. There are two sand domes (it is a big switcher, after all) and a steam dome, add-on pop-off valves, bell, and whistle.
A handrail runs the length of the running board, and there are plenty of cast-in pipes and sand lines on the boiler and running below the running board. There is a good level of rivet detail on the lower part of the firebox as well.
The tender is plastic, and has a low, long water tank and a high coal bunker with a cast-in coal load.
The rolling stock
All four cars in the set are decorated for the Chicago & North Western. A neat thing is that three of them are unique Menards cars.
First is a yellow boxcar with colorful Menards graphics and an opening door. The car is painted (rather than colored plastic).
The two flatcars are colored plastic. One has a Menards tractor, and the other has a Menards trailer. The trailer has a unique load of cinder blocks with decoration directing their delivery.
The caboose is painted green with C&NW graphics. The model relies on two power pickups for interior illumination.
The rolling stock has plastic couplers and truck side frames. The couplers are the thumbtack style and can be opened remotely with an uncoupler section or manually with the press of a finger on the uncoupler tab.
Locomotive graphics were fine. The green and yellow suggested the Green Bay Packers to me more than the North Western, but they were well executed.
Decoration of the unpainted plastic cars was sharp and clear, and painting of the boxcar and caboose was fine. All text and graphics were clean and clear.
Other components
The power to run the outfit is provided by a PowerMax transformer. This has an 18-volt, 40VA output via a single pair of hot/common posts. These can be used with the provided track power hookup wires, plain old stranded or solid wire, or banana plugs.
The transformer has a throttle; a power light; and direction, horn/whistle, and bell buttons. Just for the record, the Lionel 0-8-0 does not have a bell.
The power output of the PowerMax is adequate, but as you add more cars and track you may find it lacking enough oomph to get the job done. When you reach that point, however, don’t think you’ll need to toss the PowerMax – it will make a fine power supply for streetlights, building lights, or off-track accessories.
The track included is a loop of Lionel’s FasTrack system. It goes together easily, stays together, and offers terrific electrical connectivity. This is a great brand of track for a beginner.
On the test track
The locomotive is a conventional model designed with a traditional air whistle. It has a can-style motor and a single traction tire. There are on/off switches for the smoke unit and reverse unit beneath the cab.
Operators should be aware that if you leave the smoke unit on with no fluid in it, it will burn out and be rendered useless. Also, turning the reverse unit off means you can lock the train into moving in only one direction.
The O gauge model has ample get-up-and-go. Pushing the throttle quickly forward caused the wheels to spin briefly; then the engine grabbed the cars and went blazing along the track.
The motor was quiet – the main source of noise was a clicking sound that seemed to sync with what appeared to be the bellows for the smoke unit. The whistle took 9 to 10 volts of power to rev up (less than that and you could just hear the fan turning), but at that voltage you weren’t in any danger of the engine or train flying off a curve to get a whistle blast.
The headlight remains on when the track is powered, as does the smoke unit. The tender has a cosmetic rear light.
The locomotive has two couplers: a functional dummy coupler on the front and a thumbtack coupler on the tender.
Our low-speed average was 7.45 scale miles per hour, while the high-speed average was 64 scale miles per hour.
Drawbar pull was 10 ounces.
This Menards set from Lionel was fun to run. It is terrific to see a company that asked for a special train set customized with the three freight-carrying cars whose loads are tailored to the business instead of simply swapping out a single car in a standard boxed outfit.
Features: Die-cast metal steam locomotive, four cars, transformer, and a loop of FasTrack
How can I order this set?
Nice set. Nice review. Good to see at least one chain of stores having a Lionel special set made again.