Train sets

stoneycakes

DS is obsessed with trains.  I have done very little to encourage this, haha.  Does anyone have a train set they would recommend for a 2 1/2 yo?  Do you guys like the wooden ones with the tracks that fit together like a puzzle?  I'm afraid he might get a little frustrated with putting the track together, but I can help him for now and he'll probably grow into it.  What do you think?

freezorburn

DS is the same age and he does fine with the wooden tracks.

But -- I made the mistake of getting him a battery-powered steam engine a few months ago, and now he is obsessed with changing the battery. Super annoying. Also one of several toys that led to me buying a battery chargers. I wish I had just stuck with the ones that he pushes around with his hands. I hide the battery powered one for weeks at a time now.

stoneycakes

What brand of the wooden ones do you have @freezorburn?

freezorburn

We have mostly Brio tracks and trains. But we also have a bunch of compatible train cars that are other brands that have been gifted to us.

The ILs have IKEA at their house. I think the trains are cute, but I worry that the little plastic connector bits could be a choking hazard. DS still puts everything in his mouth. I was super-paranoid about it when we were visiting, but it turns out the pieces stick pretty well to the tracks and it wasn't an issue. 

I've heard Thomas the Tank Engine is also compatible, but I wanted to stay away from character-driven toys for a bit longerl

stoneycakes

Thanks, guys.  I'll definitely check out the Brio sets.

stoneycakes

Does anyone have the generic compatible brands of train sets?  Looks like you get a lot more bang for your buck.

freezorburn

I'm this close to buying some because I feel like we need more track, and I saw some boxes at our local toy store. I want to take a closer look before I commit though.

stoneycakes

freezorburn said:

I'm this close to buying some because I feel like we need more track, and I saw some boxes at our local toy store. I want to take a closer look before I commit though.

https://www.amazon.com/Expansion-Chuggington-Imaginarium-Orbrium-Toys/dp/B00E3FTOJQ/ref=pd_sim_t_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=13NXK8YWNRTG5JBERX7T

This brand gets good reviews.  

hillgirl322

My kids have the train tracks from IKEA and love them! We bought them probably five years ago now and my son still plays with them. Great quality.

unaveragejane

Do those of you who have train sets recommend getting a train table as well? Or are they a waste of space?

stoneycakes

unaveragejane said:

Do those of you who have train sets recommend getting a train table as well? Or are they a waste of space?

Oh I sure hope not...

freezorburn

We just set up on the floor. I like not having a box to stay inside.

I think a train table would be nice for grandparents or anyone who is playing with your child who might have difficulty getting down on the floor to play and difficulty getting up.

hillgirl322

stoneycakes said:

unaveragejane said:

Do those of you who have train sets recommend getting a train table as well? Or are they a waste of space?

Oh I sure hope not...

Nope. The floor worked just fine and we have a plastic box on wheels (also from IKEA) to store the peices in. This way the kids could move them from room to room if needed.

blondolphn

I got a used play table that I think originally had a train track and trains on it. It has one side for lego/duplos and the other side of the table is a decorated scene for cars adn what not. The boards flip and the inside of the table has storage. Jo is only 14 months and loves her table. Excuse the mess, still workign on putting in hardwood floors. 

PipSqueak0313

We had (and it's still at Grandma's in storage) a TTE set and we added a generic set or three to it, including a plastic track set. They all interchanged well enough to combine the tracks into one huge layout. We did have a table to encourage ds1 to keep the parts stored off the floor to keep them from getting stepped on but he wasn't limited to playing on the table.

violajack

We have several Ikea packs and D loves them. I usually put the tracks together, it's a fun challenge to make all the pieces fit in different combinations, and then he will push trains around for hours. The track setups we create would totally not fit on a table.

sarenu1

We have Brio and Imagination(?). They can be used together. You don't need a table, we don't have room for one

unaveragejane

@blondolphin - I have been wondering where you are these days! I hope all is well with you and yours!

stoneycakes

Wow.  The Ikea ones are really inexpensive.  I might have to make a trip there this week.

frass

L loves the ikea trains! We have some Thomas tracks that he can use with the ikea ones (they don't fit perfectly, but good enough!) just so he can use some of the fun Thomas add-ons, like the crane or mine set. We also bought a table on Craigslist that fits under his bed since we have no space. He will play with trains for hours- well worth it! Especially for the inexpensive ikea ones.

nevertune

My older son was obsessed with Thomas and the wooden track. We have Imagination, Thomas, Brio, and some offbrand track that all connects pretty decently. We got a used train table on craigslist for $35. At the two-year-old time, I'd make him awesome track configurations and he'd spend a week or so wrecking it or reconnecting in his own way. I'd make him a new one every week or two. At that age, my son was obsessed with tunnels, so finding an inexensive one of those might be worth your time. Amazon was my best friend for wooden train stuff.

CLLDLL

We've used TTE and Imaginarium.  I like them both, but for the price Imaginarium is probably a better value. FWIW we held off buying a table for D from age two to age 4, thinking it was unnecessary.  We finally caved for Christmas after he turned 4 because he begged for one.  He played with a handful of times before he got bored with it.  I sold it the following year and got most of my money back out of it.