Absolutely, wooden train sets can be tailored to different age groups; younger children may enjoy sets with larger pieces, while others with intricate designs are better suited for older kids. All the compatible pieces feature the same broad connections and grooves of around 3mm deep, 5mm wide and with a 20mm gap between! Use adapters: There are adapters available that can help you connect BigJigs and Brio tracks together more easily.

Two other good inclusions in this set are the functional crane and four cargo cars, providing plenty of ways to interact with the set during playtime. I am very impressed with the complexity and intelligence of the layout design, and you get enough of a variety of track to do some fun things with it. I’m also happy to see that all the tracks in the new IKEA set have wooden connectors…for some reason from the packaging I feared that the ascending tracks still had plastic ones.

My son just inherited tons of learning curve Thomas trains from my nephew, however, the tracks are long gone. But this would reduce this (generally short-lived) train play frustration for toddlers who are new to wooden trains. The majority of wooden train track out there is fully compatible with each other and the parts such as trains, bridges, tunnels and buildings can all be connected and used without any problems at all.

As soon as they obtain accessories for which the table has no room, everything gets put on the floor. In addition to their wooden train sets, Hape owns, distributes, and licenses many major toy brands, such as Kâthe Kruse, PolyM, Baby Einstein, Senger, and Eureka Kids.Wooden train tracks can be played with in a multitude of new ways — so many ways that I wrote a book about three creative little train tracks inventing “new track tricks. Mainly, it feels light and dents easily, but it’s held up okay for us, and I don’t think it will make much of a difference when it comes to trains falling off the tracks. Whether it's a passenger train, freight train, or even a model train, wooden train sets will surely delight kids of all ages. In the past, their tracks had plastic connectors that were a too-tight fit with many other wooden train brands’ tracks.

In our case, of the two we’ve had, the one at Grandma’s house was sold in a garage sale after a year of sporadic use and a year of storage, and the one in our house only gets used as a rare change of pace from the floor. Make adjustments as needed: Depending on the specific tracks and connectors you’re working with, you may need to make some adjustments to get them to fit together properly. Other Maple Landmark NameTrain sets include their Basic Train Set, a simple circle with a three-car train; the NameTrain Safari Set, a figure-eight with both an animal-watching train and five animals on wheels, and the NameTrain Skyline Train Set, which features a beautiful, red suspension bridge. We still use most of what came with ours, and though the table is gone now, when I last saw it, it still looked brand new. Additional Accessories: Many wooden train set brands to provide additional accessories like bridges, tunnels, stations, and figurines that enhance play by adding realistic scenes and expanding creativity within the train set world.In general, major wooden train set brands are compatible with one another, giving you the freedom to mix and match trains from different brands for a unique layout design. I haven’t tried their track yet, but from the reviews they sound like they’re more or less a good deal.

To celebrate the launch of our new wooden railway toys, we have created a short guide so you can learn more about the benefits of train play and decide which wooden train toy is best for your little rail enthusiast! If you’re interested in purchasing a wooden train set — and I recommend this as a good way to start a collection, or to add more track and new and interesting features to an existing train set — please take a look at the Play Trains! The metallic domes on the trains are also created in a standardised way to allow connection of different carriages and wagons from other sets.We are now based in South Africa and looking to expand our set, but in SA, Thomas sets are prohibitively expensive due to import taxes. Great review of compatibility of BigJigs and Brio, just what I was looking for when it comes to instructing friends and family to extend my son’s ever growing rail set! If you go with one of these theme sets, be sure to check out the coordinating destinations and additional trains that Bigjigs offers to go with them, like the Bigjigs Rail Pirate Galleon, Bigjigs Rail Shipwreck Bridge, Bigjigs Rail Skull Cave, and the Bigjigs Rail Pirate Train (complete with a cannon car! To address these differences, it’s important to be patient and take the time to adjust the tracks as needed.