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I’m thinking why the frogs couldn’t be deeper so the flanges don’t contact the bottom? Rail cars seem to have shallower flanges vs engine flanges, thus not an issue other than engines. Yes diesels are better thru switches vs the rigid wheel on steamers. Steamers 2 wheel front trucks are finicky thru switches without weights added. I have better luck with 4 wheel pilot trucks weighted. Don’t seem to matter what brand, or type switch each has issues. I find 034 Marx plastic switches with a flange guide added works well with my diesels. Still not so much with steamers or engines with more than 4 wheel trucks. All my engines do not have rubber tires. Rubber has different issues.😊 I’m running 027 track, i just like the shorter profile.😊

Interesting, Eric Siegel's worked just fine. I guess that's why they are looking for customer feedback.

Hope your wife gets better. Not sure exactly what your situation is but I’ve seen a whole cabin lifted with car jacks-maybe one at each corner. Good luck!

th-cam.com/video/yDYOlCphqdE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=G4mQwMlZogbSReNN

Super “O” track is 036.

Reverse the 2 wires at the end of the frog.

I have the same stitches and I guess I got lucky I h ad no problems with my switches

You will encounter problems with any new products from any manufacturers even lionel mth Bachmann and atlas has problems with any new products they have produced in recent years

Its a shame that so many products need adjustments or rebuilding now-a-days just to make them work correctly after spending so much money.

Head rod.

Are switch machines reversible

Have you seen how classic Lionel switches are wired? They require insulated rail joiners, plus U-wire needs to be right

They could have put some more effort into the design of this switch. If you buy one of these it will be for the long hall and not just a once-a-year setup. That idea about K-Line switch mechanisms being on the side of the track would be a better setup. it removes the space problem and the need to flip the mechanism. 😊👍

Basically same as Lionel and Marx plastic switches. The frog design with it’s inheritance problems with some engines. A added modification to guide the wheel flange side thru the turn out helps a lot on most switches. Originally there is a short plastic section that is to small and short to do the job. Menards switches are too $$$$ so I continue to source used Lionel and Marx 034’s for my 027 track. I find 027 track more realistic height sized compared to Lionel/Menards “O”.

I may be a complete idiot and this may be extremely obvious to someone familiar with the hobby. But... I recently got my first train. It's nothing special by this hobbies standards. Just a Lionel, O gauge Hogwarts Express. I'm a bit of a Harry Potter fan... Anyways. I got a case of the 24, 10 inch straights, and 24, 0-36 curved pieces. The curved pieces all have the pins on one end like the straights... But because of this, you can't flip them to make curves in the other direction unless you pull the pins out and reverse them... Is this normal..? I spent a good 45 minutes scratching my head. Flipping the track in every direction before finally committing to pulling the pins out. I did all that only to discover that when assembling the track and using the reversed curves, it was VERY hard to get them together and the pins don't like to stay in place since they're sorta crimped into the other end the way they are... The fast track is just REALLY loud and obnoxious. In my opinion. It's almost unusable to be completely honest. Especially on my hardwood floors. It just echoes through the floor. At any rate. I'm wondering if it's normal for the whole pin thing to be this annoying... Or are there curved track pieces specifically made to turn in the other direction that I need to get..? Or is there a way to just flip the track that I'm somehow totally missing..? If I DO have to pull the pins myself and reverse the ends. Is there a better way to do it so that putting the pieces together is easier..? Right now i'm using a flat head to pry the track apart, then a set of needle noses to pull it out... It'a a pain in the butt and sorta messes the track up... Is there an easier way..?

This is like the third review on these switches and none of them including this one indicated they are not so good. The engine you show rides over switches like on gravel. I purchased used 60 year old switches that perform flawlessly for 10% of the cost Menards china made one’s sell for. I’m happy with Marx and Lionel 50 and 60 year old switches. Thank you for honest review it is similar to the other’s on line.😊

Pilot Ren just did a video on these same switches. What a box of junk. All messed up bent, and required fixing to use. His video shows the train going over switch like a bunch of rocks. Yours rolls crappy too. You don’t seem to have any acceptable operation neither. Typical china junk at a high price. Sixty year old Lionel works fine so no excuse for Menards. At $120 for pair of switches these are pure trash. Yes return for refund. Thank you both for honest reviews😊

Way to go James! Thank you👍

Excellent series of reviews. Thanks for doing these. Also, good job flipping the switch without instructions. As far as the direction, however, it makes sense that it would be backwards when you flip the mechanism. It pushes and pulls according to the push button or anti-derail function. Pushing from the inside would make the switch flip to the diverging position. However, pushing from the outside would push the switch to the straight direction. To flip these, I think you would have to flip some wires so that the push/pull was in reverse.

The engine does not sound like a u36B.

Look inside your switch controllers to see the hidden LEDs for the controllers marker lights.

We all know Menards want feedback. So they can make the final product as good as it can be. I just hope by the time they get to the final product that the price doesn't increase.Like it did with there F7 locomotives by the time Menards had gotten to the final product.

This big switch machine is what put brakes on me getting them cause I need them for a crossover also. You’re doing a good job helping me figure out how I could use these instead of the k line I have but I don’t think I will have the room for them. 4 mains in 24”

Excellent work, at least we know that the motor can be flipped to the other side. 👍

Just opened mine and after watching your video this morning. I opened the controller and found 4 LEDs inside and what looks like 2 missing screws, wondered if yours was the same? I was also able to adjust the lamp to closer to red for diverging and green to thru.

Im more concerned about how they cut the rails for the points. I think they need smaller points and larger rails with less of a gap.

Great job on the review. That’s good to know about the red and green indication being backwards. I will hold off until that is corrected. Thank you James!

File that sharp catching point with a file or a carbide burr Do the lenses pull out of the lantern so you can switch them? Or reshape that mountain pin to be round

It appears they didn't quite comprehend how to points work 🤔

Nice review James! I was wondering about these switches. 👍

Nice track plan.

Pardon me for asking, but how is it controlled? Is it Transformer Controlled, or does it have TMCC?

I was thinking it was a new lion chief from MTH tooling. But its interesting.

Powering the Menards track is really handy. Use a sharp screw driner to open a gap in the underside of the rails. Slip a lug of most any kind in the resulting slot and remove the screwdriver. The lug will be in super tight. Bend the lugs 90 degrees and crimp in the wire. Great connection for next to nothing.

Sound Review?

This is why I use tube tracks from Lionel, old school is still the best, but I do like the roadbed look.

I had the same problem with my old 736 engine and tender where the whistle would not work when the train was running , I replaced the roller on the truck that makes contact with the center rail and now it works fine , probably wasn’t making real good contact when it was running

Unless you have to don't sand or scrap your new track. They coat it with some kind of metal and any sanding will break that coating and make a possible rust issue. Used track is best cleaned with a scotch bright type pad, or the rougher red pad like that scotch brit type pad. Steel wool would be great on the used track however it lets particles around an could short out your track, or worse yet get into the gears especially a mag-na- traction engine.

Yes, you are right the corner track are a bit to close. Mount the outside set down screwed in by hand and not to tight but enough to hold it in place, the check the inside track with another train on the corners and watch the area right were it goes from straight to the curves, and that is the most over hang spot. The steamers with the longer front and the wider diesels will be the ones to watch out for and the the over hang of an long rail cars. You might have to compromise and only run certain things on your set up or only on the outside. On my new set up it is close but several big diesels can not run side by side, long passenger cars will be a issue as well but about every thing else works, 031, 034 with a short straight on the curve and 042 on the outside with a short straight as well on a 48 inch wide table.

Thanks for the tip.

I personally just hook up the eztrack to some classic track instead of cutting it.

I was so tempted to get one of these. I dont know if the biden one would be worth the money though 😂

Looks great!

That’s nice, those are some good kid ya know. Most of em full send the engines and blare the horn the whole time. At least they had a good time 😂😅😅😂!

AF switches have either o31 curve or o40. Yours looks like o31. They made both.

Looks amazing and I love your trackplan

Very nice bridge, I really like it. I like the idea closing off the curve and adding the tunnel portals. I’ve been thinking about doing that to my layout as well. Thinking about closing off the entire back and add a second level with a two track main.

Love that switch track

Fantastic video James. I was thinking of picking up a few of these but I went the opposite direction. I decided to go with the MTH RealTrax solid rials. I really like them. They are flawless, I’m very happy with them. Frank

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