Menards Plug and Play lighting system

From the first product releases, the Menards line of Plug & Play buildings have stood out from structures by other O gauge building makers. Interesting designs, add-on detailing, and often unique lighting features such as strobes and flashing signage add to the fun.

Most of them look great simply sitting there. Powering them up, though, grabs the attention of anyone trackside. They differ from some other brands, which have been designed to run off track power.

The Plug and Play buildings utilize a 4.5 volt power system that plugs into a handy wall outlet.

Building your power grid

Some of the earlier Menards structures had a single power connection, most often at the rear of the building. Later buildings continued that tabletop link, but also added a drop down plug to make the connection from below the table top. Bob Keller photo

On my layout I have a mix of buildings: ceramic holiday structures from a variety of firms, and more realistic buildings by Lionel, MTH, and Woodland Scenics. Most were fed from a bus line, but that couldn’t be used for Menards buildings, so I did a bit of moving around to consolidate some of Menards structures into a tighter footprint.

Once I got into it, I could have saved a bit of time. The Plug and Play system has a great deal of flexibility and you have plenty of tools to route a power feed without disrupting the power lines to your existing buildings.

Menards has a wide variety of power supplies so you can easily expand your building power network. (See list at the end of this review.)

Routing the lines

In 2000 I would have been happy crawling under the benchwork splicing wires like I was planning on blowing up a German troop train. A quarter century later, not so much.

I rigged up a power strip dedicated to the Menards structures. I used stick-on plastic hooks to carry the line along the outside of the benchwork. When the line neared a target building, I used a 1/2 inch drill bit to punch through the tabletop. If you install Menards illuminated vehicles, you will need a slightly wider hole to lower the power connector below the table top.

I inserted a “Y” plug in the line and ran a feeder to the target structure. I made the connection, tested it, and moved to the next location. Gone are the days of stripping wire and twisting an add-on feeder to the line.

Whether you have a few Menards structures or an O gauge Menards city, Plug and Play connections make illumination easy. Plug and Play gives you amazing flexibility in making the light shine!