Which wooden train track?

[sleepcrisis]

I'm a bit of a sucker for 'the best' and particularly 'the best looking' (i'm an idiot) but is it worth forking out for Brio in this case?

I don't have any local shops where I can look at them, so will have to buy online. Are they really all compatible? Should I buy a tesco track and then brio trains or something? Will DS really care?!

What do you have and is it any good?

Thanks!

[RakeABedOfTyneFilth]

Tesco, Ikea, Brio, TtTE, ELC, BigJigs are all compatible.

I have My DS has all of these types, mostly bought from eBay. He does not care a jot whether they were new, in fact he LOVES it when something comes through the post. The generic name to search on is 'wooden railway' and you can get whole boxes of the stuff covering half a decent sized room for £20-30 which would barely get you a simple circle, bridge and a couple of trains of the premium stuff. Unless you are actually loaded, I really wouldn't bother buying new.

[VinegarDrinker]

BigJigs gets my vote. Cheaper than Brio and HUGE range of stuff. Tesco own brand fine too. Agree with the eBay suggestion.

I am normally a huge Ikea (and cheap stuff) fan BUT we have some of the Ikea tracks and due to the cheap plastic bits on the end, I wouldn't say they really are compatible. We have ended up separating them as DS found it so frustrating not being able to join them easily (he's only 2).

[Hasitfallendownagain]

Some of them have little wooden pegs stuck into the end instead of the whole thing being cut out of one piece of wood, and in my experience they are much more likely to break - the pegs come out or snap off.

[MildDrPepperAddiction]

Tesco. Just as good as brio and v sturdy.

[toffeelolly]

My little boy loves his wooden train track's he has 4 all together tesco , brio. They all fit together but I would go for tesco because much cheaper and i think better, you can in tesco buy extra track's and train's they have a good range. We got his track ( good size) with 3 train's for £9.99. Also asda sell their own now which looks good.

[HystericalParoxysm]

Tesco. We have some Tesco and some Bigjigs, the Bigjigs is definitely inferior.

[fuzzpig]

We have loads of different sets which is great as you get a wider variation in accessories - different types of bridge etc.

I wouldn't buy Brio new though - got a few old bits on ebay but it is massively overpriced IMO.

[DTisMYdoctor]

We have a mix of bigjigs and brio - they all fit together fine and brio isn't worth the extra. DS is more taken with his Thomas wooden engines.

[sleepcrisis]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll try ebay and tesco. Just wondering, is Carousel the Tesco own brand? It's all I can find on the tesco website other than Brio...

I just don't know where to start - there are so many different sets and add ons! What woud you recommend to begin with? A basic starter set and some extras? Which ones? Argh am overwhelmed by choice!

[feelthis]

Bits of everthing. Toy r us, tesco and brio. Brio good for crossings and small bits and double ended bits which can make a good layout a great layout. A few good pieces like the brio collapsing bridge are great fun and the turntable great for complex layouts. Avoid ikea - last time I bought some it wasn't solid wood and had plastic connectors - just didn't fit aa well as solid wood.

[QuietNinjaTardis]

Ds has a mix of brio, carousel (tesco) and ikea. The 60 piece carousel set cost a tenner. That included people, animals and buildings. We got 20 pieces of ikea for £13 which was all track and trains. Would never buy brio as you get 3 bits for £3,000 and they're all the same sort of thing.

[feelthis]

You can buy a basic figure of 8 loop to start and suppliment with a box of curves and straights and maybe some crossings. Buy a battery powered train and it can pull all the non battery wagons. Get people to buy specific things like the turntable and bridge supports as presents. We bought a playtable and box of all kind of track 2nd hand off gumtree - I think it was a toyrs us set which originally would have been ££.

[BikeRunSki]

Any, but not Ikea.

[NotAnotherPackedLunch]

We have a mixture of all sorts.
I wouldn't write off the IKEA ones. Being able to pop out the plastic connectors can give a useful double ended piece to join up complex tracks where the final piece needs to be double ended.

[hardbeingme]

we have a fifty fifty mix of tesco carousel and brio (got lucky in a charity shop and got a big set for a fiver) practically indistinguishable from each other and they tend to bicker over the tesco black train as it has a magnet connection back and front.
tescos is also handy as they sell separate trains with a carriage for three pounds ish which made nice stocking fillers.
we also got a hump back bridge off ebay no idea which brand that one is but it all fits - have loads now and its definitely a favourite.

[johnJeffreys]

Another happy user of the Tesco track, with both Brio and Tesco engines and extras. The wooden trainsets also work well in conjunction with those playmats that have roads etc. on them - children love building imaginary worlds all over their bedroom floors.