Explain train tables to me, please.
My mom wants to buy Avery a train table for Christmas, which I think is a wonderful idea since he adores trains (well, anything with wheels really) and I have to drag him out of the bookstore kicking and screaming when it's time to stop playing with the train table there. :rolleye0014:
So I've started looking around for her and I'm a little lost. We don't actually have any trains or tracks yet, so I don't know where to start.
Am I correct in thinking that most train tables are just an activity-type table with a tabletop that is plain on one side and printed on the other? And some come with tracks, some don't? And the tracks aren't actually attached to the table?
I saw the Imaginarium train table at TRU and it looks like a good deal for the price, especially as a starter set (since it comes with the tracks, trains, and accessories). But it says that it's "compatible with Thomas and Brio trains". What does that mean? That the Thomas and Brio trains will work on the Imaginarium tracks? Or do you have to buy Thomas tracks for Thomas trains (or whatever)? Or are all the tracks interchangeable (ex. can I connect Thomas tracks and Imaginarium tracks)?
I guess I'm asking because right now, DS isn't going to care what kind of trains he's playing with - he'll be happy with the Imaginarium set to start with. But in a year or so, say he's heavily into Thomas - I would like to still be able to use this table and tracks and just buy Thomas trains. Also, right now he's not going to care about building different track setups and things like that (he just likes pushing the trains around), but I'm thinking that eventually he may want to do that, so I would like a set that can work around that.
Can somebody just explain the basics of all this train stuff to me? I thought it was a simple toy, but looking into it I'm kind of confused by all the different brands and configurations.