Train Set for DD

[GinotPrigio]

Hi, I'm looking to buy DD a train set for Christmas (she'll be 2.9). From a search of the threads it seems that a lot of people rate the Brio sets. Are they really the best?

Also, does anyone have any experience of buying sets from ebay like this one which claim to be Brio compatible?

Thanks!

That looks exactly the same as the one from Tesco...

www.tesco.com/direct/carousel-wooden-train-set-60-pieces/211-9798.prd?recommendationId=218d3d7c-3bee-43e0-845c-1059d91bf543.0&skuId=211-9798

We have that one and has had lots of use. No idea how compatible it is with brio, but we also have a figure of 8 basic one from Ikea which should be compatible but its a bit of a squeeze to get the pieces together. The tesco is purely cut from wood, the ikea one has plastic pieces to attach.

We started with Brio but have added to it over the years. The tescos / toys r us and ikea wooden trainsets are all compatible.

DD asks for a new piece / set every xmas and birthday.

The Thomas Wooden Railway is outstanding. DS had it from the age of 1.5yrs and still at nearly 5.5 plays with it, and infact has the entire range. It stills looks in fantastic condition, looks visually amazing all set up, they bring out new sets each year to add to it all, it speaks to the engines independently, recognising each separate engine or character, you can buy engines with lights, trucks that giggle, huge stations, sheds, cranes, boatyards, mines, farms, circus sets, the list is endless. Can not recommend highly enough... nothing comes close to the quality, imho.

We have a few brio bits but also have tesco, IKEA, bigjigs etc, they are all compatible.

Bigjigs is very good.

My dd is nearly three and wooden train track is her fave toy at the moment. We bought our wooden train track when ds1 was a toddler, he is now 14 and its still in perfect condition.

I am planning on getting a few bits from the bigjigs range for dd for xmad not that we need them as we gave tonnes but there is some bendy track that looks cool and a sort of winding track that goes upwards

We have got lots of big jigs train set it's excellent and they do some lovely sets and it's cheaper then brio.

Our best Brio bits are the adventure tunnel and two kinds of record and play stations. We have a few pieces of Bigjigs track and I can't tell the difference between them and the Brio.

Brilliant, thank you for all your replies.

I will check out the Tesco and Bigjigs sets!

We have loads of track - various Bigjigs (v nice quality), ELC, Thomas and Brio bits. Brio is not compatible with everything - the curves are a bit sharper, which means in particular that three-wheeled engines from other sets won't go round it. There have been a couple of other compatibility issues with Brio but can't remember offhand. But IME everything except Brio is compatible with everything else!

Go for a standard all-wooden set - they are generally made to be cross-compatible.

DS had the first bits of his wooden train set for his 2nd birthday. he is now nearly 6, and we have added quite a lot to it over the last few years, as he is trains obsessed. We have bought Big Jigs (careful of your spelling when you google that as the 'i' is next to the 'u' on the keypad!), Brio and Thomas track and stations, bridges, clock tower, windmill, engine shed, repair shed, signal, level crossing etc etc.

The Thomas brand is probably the most expensive. But all of the brands are compatible. Big Jigs is amazing value for money. DS' set has been played with daily, and none of it has broken, so my advice would be to get the Thomas trains as they are instantly recognisable, and get the track, stations, bridges etc from Brio or Big Jigs or Toys R Us own brand or whatever.

Special mention for the talking Brio station, which is fantastic (Ds records his voice making announcements!), Toby the Windmill and The double signal and the deluxe level crossing and the repair shed from the Thomas range, and the engine shed and wash down from the Big Jigs range. These risers are great too for buildinf intersting layouts, but I have no idea why Amazon have them priced at £78 - we paid about £6 for ours!

Get loads of track, including hills, points, curves (long and short) and lots of different sized straight pieces. Then you can create complicated routes and the trains can go under each other.

I think its Brio who do raod pieces (some of the Thomas track has a road layout underneath too) which you can buy to go with the train track to create more of a scene.

Enjoy!

If you're near a TK Maxx they have a couple of Brio starter sets for half price

Ha ha, will remember to correctly type Big Jigs!