Thomas - Trackmaster or Wooden?

[rachel1978]

Hi everyone,

I'm just looking for a bit of advice. My 3 year old son Oliver is Thomas mad and I am wanting to start him a proper collection for Christmas, but I'm not sure whether to go for the trackmaster range or the wooden railway range. I'm sure lots of people on here have experience of both ranges so any comments would be great.

Thanks
Rachel

Big vote for wooden here - the wooden magnetic trains can be coupled to other wooden trains either all facing the same way or mixed up in different directions as per your little ones desire. They can also 'freewheel' very smoothly when not being used on a track, which is sometimes more fun for children than just using them on the tracks all the time. I understand these trains/tracks are also compatible with Brio and otjer wooden railway sets. I bought some Brio after reading that, so i hope its true!

The trackmaster trains can only be coupled all facing in one direction, and i think the trucks have different couplings to the engines too so are less versatile for the creative randomness of a child at play! They also do not 'freewheel' too well off the tracks, so cant be played with in a very versatile way eg on the floor. And there are batteries to replace!

My DS is 3 and prefers his wooden trains to the few Trackmaster ones he has.

"the wooden magnetic trains can be coupled to other wooden trains either all facing the same way
or mixed up in different directions"

Ooh, just thinking that may not be exactly right, as I think the magnet polarity doesnt allow this, but the couplings are still more versatile than the Trackmaster ones we have used.

Go for Brio wooden trains. Most other wooden trains then fit on the track.

I think we had chuggington trains.

Last year we got our son the train table and track from toys r us and it's continued to be his most favourite toy! It has lights and sounds, is very sturdy and has trundle drawers too, very handy for storing extra track/trains. The base of the table can also flip over so when trains arent his thing anymore you can use it for something different.
The trains are not Thomas and friends however it IS Thomas compatible (a certain type, can't remember which) so you could buy Thomas etc and play with it on there.
I bought the table and set at half price £99.99 which I believe is back on now and is a total bargain. A word of warning though, if you want it, be quick as its a huge sell out close to Xmas.

www.toysrus.co.uk/Toys-R-Us/Toys/Cars-and-Trains/Toy-Trains-and-Playsets/City-Train-Table-and-Railway-Set(0034455)

My 3 year old is also Thomas mad and adores his wooden set. We don't have Thomas track, mostly Brio with some bigjigs thrown in. He has Thomas engines and some buildings. Because it's not exclusively Thomas he can still play with if/when his Thomas obsession ends.

Wooden. My 3 year old loves it and u can get cheaper track and accessories from ikea, bigjigs, eBay etc.

Wooden. It does not need to be Brio, there are many other manufacturers these days who make track that is very nearly the same so fits (sometimes a little tight or a little loose).

Bridge Tip: Get a hump/arch bridge that is all one piece. Saves a lot of Bridge Repairs. Children will knock the track or bridge which can mean it needs rebuilding, much easier to just stand an arch back up rather than rebuilding several pieces.