Tell me about Thomas Tracks

[Dream]

So over the weekend I bought a Train table on CL and it came with tracks, whistles etc.. From what I can tell it has 4 differents tracks, 2 types of wooden 1 plastic-gray and 1 plastic blue. Some wooden allevated tracks and some thomas towers type things, maybe to support the allevation. Then there's wardsworth station, thomas shed and a tunnel base and roof, although they don't seem to fit together. There's few more pieces but I haven't had time to look at.

What should I do with these different types? Should I just pick one and expand on that?

Does thomas have any battery operated trains like the GeoTrax?

[Dream]

Just to BTT, hopefully someone might have a comment.

[gatorsmom]

I have 3 boys who LOVE Thomas and ILs who know that and buy them tons of Thomas stuff. So, I think I can help with some things.

The grey plastic tracks with the teensy tiny bits that fit together are part of the Takealong Thomas set. That was discontinued last year and the line was bought out by Fisher Price which now makes something totally compatible and interchangeable called Take-n-Play Thomas. You wouldn't even know that the sets are different they all work together.

The wooden sets all work together- Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway, the Ikea wooden tracks, and the Target Brio and Target Little Tree brands. However, there was a HUGE recall on Thomas wooden trains a few years ago because of the lead content. This recall didn't affect the other Thomas sets, just the wooden one.

The blue tracks are part of the Thomas and Friends Motorized Road and Rail System made by Tomy. I'm pretty sure it was discontinued. I can't find any of the blue tracks anymore. HOWEVER, the new Thomas Trackmaster trains are available and do work on the Motorized Railway tracks. You can still find the complete Motorized Road and Rail Systems. They came in sets with 100+ pieces and I admit, are pretty neat. HOWEVER, since they've been discontinued, the sets are going for big bucks and frankly the pieces are too big to put on a train table anyway. When we put our set all together it practically takes up an entire room.

If you are trying to think about which sets to add on to, I'd go for the Takealong Thomas/Takenplay Thomas sets. The trains are smaller and are metal so VERY sturdy. If you find old metal trains you don't have to worry about them being a recalled product. And they are cheaper then the Wooden trains.

On the other hand, there are a lot more Wooden Railway product options and so many of the wooden sets work together. It also fits on the train table pretty well.

hth!

[Dream]

Thank you so much.

So if there was a recall for the Thomas wooden trains, I should discard them? But the tracks are safe?

Is there any Thomas trains that are battery operated, like GeoTrax?

[brgnmom]

Thank you so much.

So if there was a recall for the Thomas wooden trains, I should discard them? But the tracks are safe?

Is there any Thomas trains that are battery operated, like GeoTrax?

I think that the wooden tracks are safe. During the recall, I remember having to discard the red train (James) specifically, because the red paint contained lead. I think that the Thomas train was alright to keep, along with some others (like Percy).

There are Thomas trains that are battery-operated. They are made of plastic, like the GeoTrax ones, and they work well with the blue tracks that are now discontinued-- two years ago though I was able to find a large blue track set at the Toys R Us, but I'm not sure if it's carried there any longer. The gray take-along tracks go better with the metal trains which are not battery-operated. HTH!

[Dream]

I'm definitley going to destroy the wooden trains, then I'll see what other trains I'm left with. I guess it might be cheaper to just go with the new Takealong Thomas rather than replacing the wooden trains.

[clc053103]

Lisa did a great summary of the different types of thomas train sets!!!!

As for the Geotrax-like Thomas question- yes- both the Tomy Motorized Road and Rail System (no longer made-had blue tracks) and the Trackmaster (which replaced Tomy-tan tracks) are battery operated. They also offer remote control versions like the Geotrax trains. You can find them at Target, I THINK TRU has stopped carrying them for some reason.

As for which set is "best" I think it varies by who you ask, based on child's interest, space constraints, etc. The wooden trains are great for the table. The Trackmaster doesn't fit well on the table, you would have to make a very small track- but are great on the floor and honestly, my DS's (at almost 5) favorite. They are also great for younger hands because they are large. The Take n Play (metal engines, grey plastic tracks) are actually the least loved in our house. A lot of the components are pretty useless (like the saw mill- splits a log sorta, but that has nothing to do with trains so DS never used it). But they are good for carting along to grandmas and building tracks out of the house.

[MolieMuts]

The motorized system trains are battery operated plastic trains. They do not have remote controls like the Geotrax have. We have a lot of the blue plastic tracks and battery trains, but haven't used them in a while since DS1 has outgrown Thomas.

You could look up the recall notice on the wooden trains rather than just destroying them.

[Dream]

Thank you so much for sharing your experiance.

So the RC thomas would not work with the wooden tracks? Reason I'm asking is that I saw this on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqpio6_AUsI

[gatorsmom]

As for which set is "best" I think it varies by who you ask, based on child's interest, space constraints, etc. The wooden trains are great for the table. The Trackmaster doesn't fit well on the table, you would have to make a very small track- but are great on the floor and honestly, my DS's (at almost 5) favorite. They are also great for younger hands because they are large. The Take n Play (metal engines, grey plastic tracks) are actually the least loved in our house. A lot of the components are pretty useless (like the saw mill- splits a log sorta, but that has nothing to do with trains so DS never used it). But they are good for carting along to grandmas and building tracks out of the house.

This is really true. Gator got the Tomy Motorized track when he was 2yo. He really didn't play with it because there was so much going on (Bertie going on the road, trying to prevent Thomas and Skarloey from running into each other on the different tracks, etc.). At 2yo and 3yo he really like both the wooden track and the Takealong Thomas sets. He particularly loved the little metal engines and would take them with him everywhere. They are smaller and fit in his hand better. They were also about $5 to replace and easy to find at any store. Plus, as Catherine said, you can pack up a little set and "take it along" to play with. I think he got frustrated, too, that he had to be careful not to break up the Motorized Railway since it really only fit on the floor and he wasn't coordinated enough to walk around the track without bumping into it. This isn't a problem now at his age since he's coordinated enough not to bump and step onthe tracks as he's reaching over them on the floor. But at 2 and 3yo the smaller tracks were better because they fit on the train table better. The table is just the right height for toddlers to walk around it and reach for different toys without bumping into the tracks and breaking them apart, if that makes any sense.

Now it's Greenbean that likes the Takealong Thomas set and Gator and Cha Cha who play with the Motorized Rail System track (the blue one). I bought a couple of the Trackmaster trains and they run on the track easily. the boys love diverting the tracks so that the ttrains don't crash and all that. So, yes, different sets are more appealing to different ages.

[Dream]

ok so I guess since DDs only 21 months still I'll stay with the wooden tracks.

I guess the battery operated trains are more for mommy than DD:D

Thank you everyone.

[tzipora]

I agree with PP - don't throw out all the wooden train cars! If you look online, it's pretty easy to see which ones were recalled - The CPSC still has their lists up, with photos, as does the manufacturer:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07308.html

http://recalls.rc2.com/recalls_Wood_0607_determination.html
http://recalls.rc2.com/recalls_Wood_0907_determination.html

You can also call the manufacturer to find out if a particular item was affected - they'll help you figure it out if you are having trouble identifying recalled items.

I remember that people had long wait times getting things replaced at the height of the recall, but if you've just gotten these items, it shouldn't be that much of an issue...

FWIW, we've got wooden tracks here, and all our tracks and trains are Brio or generic non-Thomas (or at least they were until a couple of weeks ago, when DS2 became a little Thomas addict...) and my kids have all really loved them. DS2 (27 months) has gotten very good at putting together tracks and trains, and is carrying trains everywhere in his tight little fist.

DS1 received a battery-operated engine when he was about 2, and (evil mommy that I am) I never put batteries in because I wanted him to push the trains at that age, not sit back and watch them go. When he discovered that he could put batteries in, he loved it, and I was resigned, since DD finally started crawling in order to catch the little engine that kept getting away from her :)