The first patented stock car was developed in 1870 and used in shipments between Chicago and New York City. The cars were designed for 90 hours of travel, had water troughs fed from tanks under the car, and food troughs fed from hoppers in the roof. Over the years, other stock car designs were introduced and modified. By 1910, American railroads had more than 78,000 stock cars in use.
Menards has released its first livestock car with the Cripple Creek & Western Cattle Car (275-9286). The car is constructed from a combination of plastic, metal, and medium density fiberboard (MDF). It features metal trucks and wheels. Our sample was numbered 0000, but Menards has confirmed that each post-production car will have a unique number.
One quick note: This car has a strong odor when you first open the plastic clamshell. I suggest opening the package and letting it sit out for a while so it can off-gas. Within 20 minutes, the smell was nearly gone.
The car measures 13-3/8” long, excluding couplers. It’s difficult to say how well this car scales out in 1:48 without knowing which prototype model was used. Cattle car length varied over the years, starting at 28 feet, and increased in size over the years. I can say that, overall, the car is a good representation and has a nice heft to it.
I liked the painted “rust” on the metal running board and on the car side bracing. Take care when handling the running board because it could bend if mishandled. The material on the roof peaks was bent in some places on my sample, but I didn’t mind it. Likely these cars would get beaten up quickly, and it would look prototypical.
The doors on either side open, which would allow you to add cattle inside the car if desired. The floor is MDF etched to resemble planks.
I took this car down to our in-house CT&T layout for testing. It moved smoothly on the track with no wobbles and navigated the turnouts perfectly. I coupled it to a few (modern) tank cars we had on the layout, one MTH and one Lionel. I was a bit concerned that it wouldn’t stay coupled to the MTH car, as the coupler shank was a bit higher on the Menards car (by maybe 1/16”), but it worked fine.
A string of these cars would look quite nice together. I like the unique car numbering and the option to add cattle inside the cars. If you model the meat packing industry or just like stock cars, check them out.
Menards Cripple Creek & Western Cattle Car (275-9286)
MSRP: $39.99
Features: Die-cast metal trucks and wheels, opening doors, weathered metal trim and running board
Website: menards.com/trains
Reviews of other Menards Cripple Creek & Western products:
