I need help choosing and getting a good deal on a train table . . . Thomas, Brio, Nilo???

[Elizasmom]

Hi,

My daughter has a small started Thomas set that we want to expand over the next few years. She is currently using it on our coffee table, but I think I want it back. Does anyone know where I can get a good deal on one? Also, what's best Brio or Thomas? I am also strongly considering an interesting brand called NILO, but I've never seen it in person. It's a bit cheaper and comes with a background mat for trains. I'd love to hear if anyone has experience with that. Thanks!

[Erin]

Although tables are nice to keep the clutter away, I've found that they really limit the design of the track and thus the child's imagination. We just build ours on the floor and have a big box for it to go in afterward. I've seen some good tables online though, woodentrain.com is a good website and they have 20% off every weekend!

HTH-Erin

[MarinaTwinMom]

Costco has a train table in their Christmas toys section this year. Actually, it's a set that comes with a table (and drawers underneath), plus a generic wooden track layout and trains. It looks Brio- and Thomas-compatible, but I don't know for sure. The whole set is something like $115, which is a lot cheaper than I've seen similar tables selling for in toy shops and on the Internet.

[Karen]

A good friend of mine has one of those Nilo tables, and they are really neat. You can buy longer table legs later, when your daughter gets taller, and they sell these things that allow you to run elevated tracks that go over the edge of the table! They sell a ton of accessories that seem to make the table more versatile. On the table maker's website, there is a photo of an entire family standing on one, so they're obviously pretty sturdy!

Good luck. I think we will get one for ds for Christmas.

Karen

[Megieblue]

I bought a Thomas Classic Wooden Playtable for $99 plus free shipping. I believe that was a fantastic price.

http://stewarttoys.zoovy.com/category/thomasthetankengine.woodenrailway.tablesfurniture/

[sarsah]

Do you know anyone who does woodwork? We were going to buy DS a train table, but once DH looked at them he said he could build one himself.

The materials cost less than $20 and the table turned out great. It was very simple to build (DH has just started getting into woodworking, so he's not an expert by any means).

I would ask around and see if you could find someone to build one for you -- that is a much cheaper way to go!

Sarah.....Jason's Mommie

[tcherdawn]

We got a table from Pottery Barn Kids. We absolutely love it. Some of my friends have other tables and say they wish they had got this one. It has two huge drawers on casters that go under that are optional, but I couldn't live without those drawers. We have so many toys downstairs, but at night almost all of them fit in these huge drawers that we roll around. The wood and finish are great, it was easy to assemble, and it is not very tall so the kids can reach the middle of it. My son sits on it and plays cars or train for hours. There is an optional mat that fits it, but I have not purchased that yet. It is expensive, but we will use this for a very long time.

[Jackie]

I too am looking at the NILO play table for my son's Thomas Learning Curve train set. Any new opinions on tables?