Railroad Cars for Wargaming Terrain

(Note: Although this is a wargaming blog, I've endeavored to make this review useful to O-gauge railroad enthusiasts as well. If your interest is solely railroading, just skim the pictures in Part I, and then scroll down to Part II of the review.)

1- Railroad cars for Wargaming Scenery 
Many 28mm wargamers use O-scale buildings in their terrain setups, but what about the traincars themselves? Whether historical gaming or post-apocalypse zombie settings (Terminus anyone…), trains are an excellent and evocative subject for wargaming terrain.

As well as looking cool, they can provide excellent cover and line-of-sight blockage. So what's holding wargamers back? My guess is that it's money. O-gauge railroading is an expensive hobby. However, it doesn't have to be this way. There are a few quality budget lines of railcars from companies such as Lionel and the Railking sub-brand of MTH.

The focus of this review, however is Menards. That's right: for a number of years, the home improvement chain Menards has been in the O-gauge railway business. They even have a section of their website accurately called O-Gauge Train Stuff.

Of particular interest to wargamers, they have quite a few pre-weathered boxcars for $25!

That's a pretty good deal for 10x2x4 chunk of pre-painted blocking terrain. They're even sequentially numbered, so if you buy several they won't have the same ID numbers!

Menards also has quite a line of pre-painted O-scale buildings, some of which are quite affordable. On the budget end, we find the focus of this review: the basic flatcar, which retails for only $8 and comes in 4 versions.

Individually, they are only available in-store, but the web listing will let you search local stores. I found a batch in a store near me and was able to pick up five. Be sure to call ahead to check stock and ask the employees. Sometimes they are hidden away in the "Off-Season" section, which at my Menards was up a nearly hidden stairway behind pallets of warehoused summer furniture.

Anyhow, the basic flatcar is still tall enough to provide heavy cover for infantry and has holes for stakes or tie-downs so you can put whatever load you want on it, from U.S. Army tanks to spaceship sections.



The holes in the top are the same size as standard zip-ties for easy tie-downs. Also, one could easily chop the wheels off and have a great looking Necromunda style walkway!

I'm looking forward to adding this to my railway-themed terrain, which right now consists of an elevated train station and some second hand three-rail track propped up on top of other scenery.

2 - Railway-centric Review of the Menards Flatcar
Now, here's some additional information for those interested in the railroading details of this car, or those who want their wargames terrain to move. What we have here is a very basic plastic car with some nice features and a few metal parts. According to the "O-Gauge Railroading Online Forum," they are being produced by the Golden Wheel Die Casting Company of China. As noted previously, they come in four colors, each with a specific line: Milwaukee Road, SOO, C&NW and BN.

Quality and function is essentially what one might expect as part of a current "ready-to-run" set. This is not an indictment, just an observation. It's certainly better than many of the all-plastic budget train cars of the past, which had one-piece trucks/couplers and plastic wheels. As seen in previous pictures, the top side has moderate detail. If the slats on top are supposed to be wood, there is no grain to be seen.

Here are pictures of Menards (left), Lionel and MTH trucks side by side. The Lionel car is from The Scout 2010 RTR set, and the MTH is from a 2004 Spongebob RTR set.

The trucks are mostly plastic with metal wheels painted in a grey metallic paint (compared to the matte grey finish of the other brands). The couplers are functional in the same way as Lionel and seem to interlock and release well with both.

The wheels vary in smoothness, with some spinning freely and some only making a few revolutions before stopping. I assume a bit of lubricant would have them all spinning well. Note that the Lionel and Menards trucks are nearly identical, except that the Lionel wheels are a bit more precision made.

The lack of even basic undercarriage detail is a bit surprising also since it probably wouldn't have taken much effort to mold a basic frame under there. Our O-gauge layout only comes out at Christmas, so I've not had a chance to run these with an engine, but overall I'm rather impressed. I don't have the cash flow for full-tilt O-gauge railroading, and this might be the least expensive O-gauge car currently produced. I hope it's not the last of it's kind. I'd love to see what other affordable rolling stock they could come up with. Perhaps something akin to the cheap all-plastic cars of the past, but with the metal wheels and functioning couplers that these flatcars have.

Though I'm primarily a wargamer, I do dabble in a bit of Christmas railroading. These flatcars and the other Menards train items seem equally well-suited for both. Railroaders have access to budget-priced, new-production cars with full functionality, and wargamers can add railway terrain to their tables at a price that competes with purpose-built wargaming terrain. Menards, you have our attention.

-- Karl, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member