Train Rookie

[kfk]

My boys turn 2 in October and I'm thinking of doing a train set for their present. My younger brother had BRIO trains back in the day (pre-Thomas), and they've played with these elsewhere. We're pretty much t.v. free so they've not been exposed to Thomas yet, though I'm not opposed. Anyway, I'm just looking for some basic advice on sets, and best places to buy/order. I'm thinking some basic pieces, plus they love bridges and tunnels. Also, a good assortment of cars (probably 2 of each basic kind!). Finally, we rent and have carpet, and don't have room for a train table. Any advice?

[Java]

I saw Costco selling just the train set with tracks. It was pretty nice with bridges, barns, and other stuff to build a town. I don't remember how much but it was way way cheaper than my $70 set (and that was practically a bargain basement price for a ton of pieces). I want to say $38 or something in that ballpark.

Next time I go I'll get the item number for you.

[kijip]

www.trainsgalore.com

www.creativetrains.com

have good prices and sales.

I say just get a big starter set like the Melissa and Doug one or the Imaginarium one and go from there. They will be compatible with add one sets and pieces later on.

Toby's favorites are the Thomas and Friend's sets and right now he loves the collapsing suspension bridge and the Quarry Mine tunnel as for and bridges and tunnels go.

[KrisM]

We do have a train table, but we also have one of those area rugs with the roads and buildings on them. You can get them at Home Depot and other places They are really flat and the tracks work really well on them, compared to regular carpet. They're pretty cheap, too.

We started with a basic set from Target for $20 (not Thomas). Then, I added a switches set from Imaginarium and finally, I just ordered bulk track from www.trainsgalore.com. We needed specific pieces and it was better ordering this way then trying to get what we needed with sets, etc.

The only Thomas we have are engines and cars.

[farleygirl]

My DS isn't into Thomas either (has never seen the show, only played with them at the train table at Barnes & Noble), but I started getting train stuff as I just purchased the Costco table for his 2nd birthday. I was at Marshall's today, and they had a bunch of Thomas stuff, so I picked up some of the trains. Figure it can't hurt to have them in case he starts getting into the Thomas stuff at some point.

[brittone2]

AC Moore and Michaels craft stores sometimes sell Thomas sets (varies from location to location). If yours does, you can use the 40% off coupons they put out (can find in the newspaper if you have them locally) on the item, provided it isn't on sale.

We bought most of our sets this way. Personally, I would have preferred Brio to Thomas (TV free DS as well, and Learning Curve no longer offers a lifetime warranty on their Thomas stuff, which annoys me out of principle since most other brands do). However, the 40% off price, and not having to pay shipping, made the Thomas sets the most affordable deal for us.

They do often have "sales" on Thomas products at AC Moore and Michaels for 25% off, but that means you can't use the 40% off coupon on your purchase. So if you have those stores, wait until the items are NOT
"on sale." Apparently, as the hoidays approach they put them on sale more often, negating the ability to use the 40% off coupon.

Www.creativetrains.com often has a "deal of the day" that is pretty decent in price.

My DS's favorites are probably the roundhouse/turntable, water tower, and the mail station thingy.

For a bigger quantity of track, I'd probably start w/ Imaginarium or a lower cost one to build up how much you have at home. I think a lot of the generic track still gets good reviews here.

[Java]

The Costco train set is made by Battat. It's 120 pieces and sells for $44. Item# 125466

[MarieBunny]

We just got DS a starter Thomas Figure 8 set at Toys R Us for under 40 bucks. You can add on to it later for gifts. I too was intimidated by the train table as we don't have room for that either, but I got advice from people on this forum that the table is not necessary.

[HHCs Mom]

We just bought 100+ pieces of Brio from someone who put an ad in our local paper. We got it DIRT CHEAP and it is in excellent shape. DS plays with the trains on the floor of our den (hardwood floor with an area rug on top). We will be getting him a train table for many reasons: the trains don't run well on a carpeted surface, DS needs to be standing up to play with the trains (he wants to sit in the middle so he can reach everything and thus breaks the tracks apart, gets frustrated, etc), and we need the storage that would come with the table for all of the train pieces we have.

I have thought about going ahead and buying the mat that goes on the train table to use on the floor and that would help with the smooth surface issue but the tracks really do need to be elevated to play with them well. I'm just not looking forward to shelling out the money to put that monstrosity in our playroom! :)

Oh, and we had the IKEA starter set that I got dirt cheap and it does NOT work with our tracks. We use the cars that came with the IKEA set but that's it.

Kim
~ mama to a sweet boy named Harrison ~ 4.6.04