Train Set Conundrum

My kids (and my husband) ;-) love the Thomas train set. Very versatile, and you can buy pieces in so many places. Have Fun!

Hi K., I 2nd the Imaginariam train set. I got it for my 2 year old daughter and she loves it and the price is so much better, you won't mind so much if something breaks or goes missing. The train table is nicer that the Thomas one also.

We started our Thomas collection on my 1st child's 2nd Christmas. She and her sister have recieved a piece or 2 every Christmas and Easter since then. We don't have a table, so every set-up is different, and a challenge to incorporate all the pieces. It comes out with friends and family, everyone plays! I wish you many hours of creative, imaginative play!
ps My girls are 10 and 12 years old.

Hi K.,
I also have 2 year old b/g twins and they LOVE their train set. I got it when they turned 2 in July for their b'day. We got them the Imaginarium set from Toys R Us. It is so awesome!! It was $160 and does sooo much. It makes sounds when the train passes through the tunnel, over the bridge and through the station. It came with lots of trains, a crane and cargo items to pick up (with a magnet) people, signs, a train stop, other vehicles not just trains and a roundtable (I think thats what its called, like Thomas has)It is so worth the money. We have a few Thomas trains that work with it and I believe it said it was compatible with many other sets. You should definately look into it. It also comes with the table that has 2 drawers in it for storage. The Thomas table alone costs around $180. Thats without all of the tracks and accessories. You could always buy Thomas trains if they are really into that and use them on this track and it would still cost less. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

target and thomas fit together, my son also has the plastic thomas sets which he likes very much.
you can find lots on ebay

I would definitly do the Thomas set-- there are so many possibilities- geo trax is very limited. The thomas set you can add to for years-- but don't pay full price! AC moore has sales for 40% off regularly and there is an ebay site that does just Thomas stuff- new.

I think Thomas, Brio, and Melissa&Doug all fit together, most will say so on their packaging (or if you look them up at Amazon). My daughter really enjoyed them. We didn't have the table, so hers weren't out all the time, but if you have the space, the table is the way to go. She will still play with her cousin's (he just turned 3). The GeoTrax look like a lot of fun, but we haven't used them.

Hi K.
I have a set of college age twin girls. I don't know what those that you are looking at are because my twins are my youngest children, but for me it was not worth trying to have them share. It was more trouble than it was worth at 2 & 3 especially. I would suggest hardy not easily broken set. I loved the wooden trains that they could reconfigure the track and run the train on it. I suggest two engines because eventually they realize that trains don't go without engines. Unless what you want is something for them to simply watch.
My children were all active learners, that wanted to do not watch. I used wooden train sets when I taught preschool as well; easily broken toys will get broken when you have a group, two is a group, playing with them.
Just some thoughts
Hope you find what you are interested in.
K. --- SAHM married 39 years --- adult children 38, 33, and twins 19 --- all played with wooden trains with their blocks.

We got a great set about a year ago from Toy R Us, the Imaginarium train table. It comes with tracks, a bridge, a station, a tunnel and lots of other fun stuff. plus a bunch of cars and trains. The Thomas trains fit on it perfectly. It was only about $150, which is WAY less than the thomas table, and it comes with all the other stuff too. It has 2 big drawers that you can use for storage too.

My son has turned me into a toy train expert. We bought my son a train table when he was 2. We opted for the Imaginarium wooden table/set you can buy at Toys R Us. Each year Toys R Us sells an Imaginarium brand table with all the track pieces, bridges, etc. Its a complete set, and it will set you back about $130. Its on the website now, you can check it out. If you go THOMAS brand, you'll pay close to $200, if not more, for just the table, no pieces.

We set it up Christmas Eve and covered it with Thomas stickers. My son was BEYOND thrilled. He is 5 1/2 now, and he still plays with it, and the table is in GREAT shape.

The wooden imaginarium pieces are totally compatible with all the THOMAS brand wooden pieces. (And the wooden pieces you can buy at Target) So you can add on to your set down the road. And we have, believe me, we have.

When it comes to Thomas stuff, you have WOODEN, TRACK MASTER, and TAKE ALONG. None of them are compatible with one another. The Take Along stuff, is garbage. The pieces dont stay together well, and the quality is terrible. The track master is ok. The bigger plastic motorized trains fit on there. We have a lot of that stuff, and its holds up pretty good. But, nothing compares to the quality of the wooden track pieces, and you'll see that in the price tag.

We did have a GeoTrax set. I dont have alot of nice things to say about it. The remote control motorized train that came with it broke within the first month that we had it. At the time, we had a whole lot of Thomas/Imaginarium stuff that doesnt work on the GeoTrax system. My 2 year old didnt understand that, and would constantly complain about it. We ended up giving the GeoTrax set away.

Hope that helped a little bit. :)

Wooden tracks are the way to go. Much more durable and most of the wooden sets are compatable. Plus they aren't noisy and constantly running out of batteries. We have wooden tracks, trains and accessories from Brio, Thomas, Ikea, and Target which all work together quite nicely. I understand the Imaginarium tracks from Toys-r-us are also compatable.

The best bang for the buck will be the Thomas/Imaginarium wooden tracks. Though, my son has the Geotrax and loves it more than the Thomas. He has 9 different remote engines and loves having them all on. He even has a bunch of GeoTrax hand me downs from a friend, which are in great shape. Ebay is a great place to pick up pieces at a good price.

My husband and I purchased a Thomas table with an elaborate track for our son when he was 2, and it's been one of the best toy 'investments' we've ever made! (I say investment b/c it was NOT cheap - although nowadays you can source secondhand sets more easily and probably save a bundle. But be aware that some of the Thomas trains were recalled a few years ago for lead contanimation, so be aware of that if you purchase any used trains). It's been flexible to use with generic trains, Ikea trains, Geotrax vehicles, etc. He's 7 now and just this year is he losing interest in playing with it.

I recently bought a $99 125 piece train table from BJs.
Check out these link
http://shop.bjs.com/Big-Step-Toys-125-Piece-Wood-Train-Ta...

It is beautiful and compatible with Thomas trains.

Hi- we have the Imaginarium brand and he loves it- it is compatable with Thomas and other brands and less expensive, also has drawers to hold trains and came with a complete set of tracks. Hope this helps.

Imaginarium is on sale this week at Toys R Us. Its 129. You can use all the wooden thomas trains with it. They are on sale right now at AC Moore at 40% off.

ITs what I bought for my son!