When Bill posted about the Menards auto carrier with panel vans, I ordered one. I also ordered a gondola and a twin pack of 10-1/2” flat cars to increase my product to shipping and handling cost ratio.
This is my first Menards gondola and the first short flat car in a long time. My previous short flat car tracked poorly so I have avoided them. In the web images, the trucks on the gondola and the flats looked the same as the metal trucks on the 14” flat car which are much better than the trucks that used to come on hoppers and box cars. But the trucks on the flats and gondola are in fact plastic. That might bother some, but it doesn’t bother me since it makes removing the axles easy if the need arises to regauge wheels.
The auto carrier has the same chassis as the standard Menards 14” flat car. And the same metal trucks. But instead of the wooden deck for the flat car, the auto carrier has the frame for carrying autos screwed to the chassis. The panel vans are screwed to the frame. Well 5 of the 6 are screwed in on mine. The sixth didn’t have the screws and the van came crashing out when I tilted the car. This is a tall car. I was not sure if I could run the auto carrier on my layout, but it clears the overpasses (at least on two of my four loops) by about 1/64”.
All the axles spun freely. There were no bent axles. I measured the gauge of all axles which is standard practice for me when I get Menards cars. They were a consistent 26.5 mm except one truck on the auto carrier which was the ideal 27 mm. I decided to leave them alone until I saw how they tracked. I’ve previously gotten Menards cars with loose trucks that cause the wobbles, but these are all installed well.
After about 30 minutes run time, I’m happy to report that all cars tracked well. I even ran the lighter cars up front and the heavy auto carrier at the end to see if that would cause problems. And I ran them over Gargraves switches (current design) that have in the past upset some Menards cars.
As an aside, I got the flat cars because I wanted a flat to go with my PRR crane. Of course, the day they were delivered, I was digging under the platform and found the yellow MTH PRR flat car that I forgot I had.
I was going to write a glowing review, but the reason for the mixed review is shown in the last shot. A coupler fell off the auto carrier before I even ran it. It will most likely be a crazy glue repair.
While I’m not happy about the coupler on the auto carrier, I won’t rule out getting more gondolas (at $25 each), or 10-1/2” flat cars (at $12 each) or another auto carrier (at $50) when the mood strikes.
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This is my first Menards gondola and the first short flat car in a long time. My previous short flat car tracked poorly so I have avoided them. In the web images, the trucks on the gondola and the flats looked the same as the metal trucks on the 14” flat car which are much better than the trucks that used to come on hoppers and box cars. But the trucks on the flats and gondola are in fact plastic. That might bother some, but it doesn’t bother me since it makes removing the axles easy if the need arises to regauge wheels.
The auto carrier has the same chassis as the standard Menards 14” flat car. And the same metal trucks. But instead of the wooden deck for the flat car, the auto carrier has the frame for carrying autos screwed to the chassis. The panel vans are screwed to the frame. Well 5 of the 6 are screwed in on mine. The sixth didn’t have the screws and the van came crashing out when I tilted the car. This is a tall car. I was not sure if I could run the auto carrier on my layout, but it clears the overpasses (at least on two of my four loops) by about 1/64”.
All the axles spun freely. There were no bent axles. I measured the gauge of all axles which is standard practice for me when I get Menards cars. They were a consistent 26.5 mm except one truck on the auto carrier which was the ideal 27 mm. I decided to leave them alone until I saw how they tracked. I’ve previously gotten Menards cars with loose trucks that cause the wobbles, but these are all installed well.
After about 30 minutes run time, I’m happy to report that all cars tracked well. I even ran the lighter cars up front and the heavy auto carrier at the end to see if that would cause problems. And I ran them over Gargraves switches (current design) that have in the past upset some Menards cars.
As an aside, I got the flat cars because I wanted a flat to go with my PRR crane. Of course, the day they were delivered, I was digging under the platform and found the yellow MTH PRR flat car that I forgot I had.
I was going to write a glowing review, but the reason for the mixed review is shown in the last shot. A coupler fell off the auto carrier before I even ran it. It will most likely be a crazy glue repair.
While I’m not happy about the coupler on the auto carrier, I won’t rule out getting more gondolas (at $25 each), or 10-1/2” flat cars (at $12 each) or another auto carrier (at $50) when the mood strikes.
