First train set for three year old. Which one?

[GSmith86]

Looking for a first train set for our son's third birthday gift. Any recommendations?

So far these are my favourites.

https://letoyvan.co.uk/products/london-train-set

https://www.bigjigstoys.co.uk/products/dinosaur-railway-set

https://www.bigjigstoys.co.uk/products/city-of-london-train-set

https://www.bigjigstoys.co.uk/products/town-and-country-train-set

https://www.bigjigstoys.co.uk/products/flying-scotsman-train-set

https://www.bigjigstoys.co.uk/products/road-rail-train-set

I like the London ones in particular because we live there but don't know if they would appeal to a toddler in the same way.

Which of these would you go for?

Yes you can get all of the Thomas trains for Brio. We spent a small fortune on Brio when our eldest were small and had all of the Thomas trains and many more. The play per pound is very good and nothing has come close since. Our home permanently had train tracks going through it. I miss it now 😔

Another vote for Brio! It's so well made, and pretty indestructible. My SiL bought my son his first track, just a figure of 8 one, with a Thomas engine. Over the years we added and added to it. We always bought a new train whenever we bought new track. DS is 27 now, and all his Brio is up in the loft.

Brio or the lidl (or is it aldi) knock off versions. Train track obsessed house here and always adding new bits

Even better get the rechargable ones

My DGSs love the brio one too! Great to add to

Another vote for Brio. The collapsing bridge was my favourite ever bit - worth every penny!

Agree with PPs that DC weren’t that interested in setting up the shops, scenery, animals in the fields etc. They just wanted to build long train tracks with crossings, bridges, tunnels and loops. And lots of trains.

I'm really grateful, thanks everyone for the great advice

Could someone link the Thomas trains?

I disagree that it has to be Brio! As long as it's a wooden set they are all interchangeable. We have lots and lots and lots - Brio bits are great but they fit just fine with the Ikea, Bigjigs, Lidl etc etc. Yes some are a bit stiff to put together or take apart but it's not a big deal, and the more you play with it the more those bits wear down and they get easier to use.

The thing we always seem to lack is long straight pieces. And we have an abundance of trees which never get played with.

Anything with moving parts is liable to get loose over the years - we have a level crossing with barrier which just falls down now (mind you I bought it for DS1 who is 16 so it must have been going a while) and the Metro tunnel DS2 begged for for Christmas is utterly shoddy and the cogs inside it shatter. Brio will only replace it if I box up the entire set and post it to them so DH is going to try and 3D print a replacement I found a pattern for on the internet.

The Lidl sets they do around Christmas time are absolutely brilliant - the Metro station they do is better than the official Brio one, and their main train station is fabulous but we have shattered the roof about 3 times by accidentally standing on it.

I don't think Brio do Thomas ones any more, but you can definitely get wooden Thomas licensed ones, just not sure which brand. Fisher Price maybe?

I work at Bigjigs so can fully vouch that the wooden track is fully compatible with Brio (and other majorbrands) We also do plenty of add on track expansion packs, tunnels, stations, trains etc please don't rule out the small business over big brands 🙌

It looks like the Thomas licensing is now with some disappointing plastic incompatible set. How annoying! Mattel were producing a compatible wooden set up until a couple of years ago, but they have now stopped in order to market the plastic stuff instead. It seems to not be in stock anywhere except hugely inflated prices on amazon/ebay and then the cheap knock off sets on amazon which I wouldn't trust on safety grounds.

I will say actually, a tip for under-4s is to avoid any bridges where the support is a separate piece. The Ikea one where it's a plastic tunnel is OK. But the ones which have wooden blocks to hold it up and you just lay a flat piece between them and then use the slopes at the ends - those are prone to frustration because very young children knock them over all the time by accident. They are better for creativity when they get older, DS2 is now 6 and builds all sorts with these including putting splitters on them and all kinds of things. But when they are younger, you're best off with a bridge which is a solid piece and can't easily be knocked over.

We have a mix of Brio and IKEA, the box is out right now, it’s been played with for 7 years and still going!

https://maxitrak.com/locomotive-item/5-inch-planet

That should be popular with Dad!

Brio and big jigs fit together.

We started with Brio. BigJigs had some really nice things like a turntable that made the line more interesting. We also had some extension sets & bridges to make the line more complex. I was sceptical about the Thomas trains, but they made play even more interesting for my DC (I can remember them saying what the trains would be saying to each other). Our train set was used so much that I sometimes buy a starter set as a new baby present.

A friend of mine got us the Bigjigs Dino railway for DD when she was 3 (she loved it but only while she was into dinosaurs,.she wasn't so interested in railways generally)
But now my railway/train/vehicle obsessed DS plays with it alongside a tonne of Brio - some new bits but mainly a huge job lot we got from a charity shop with loads of track and station, bridge etc etc. I second PPs who say don't bother so much with the little people/buildings that don't do anything.

I'd say have enough track that you can then build on later..in my experience, little ones like the track that goes up then down again.
The bigwigs Dino set has a great volcano bit that goes up and down and around.

You can't go wrong with Brio, and you can always find extension bits at rummage sales, etc.