I'm looking for a wooden train set for a two-year old. I had Brio when I was a kid but I see plenty of offerings in stores now... Geotrax, Brio, Imaginarium, Thomas, Melissa & Doug, Lionel, etc.

What I like are the hardwood trains with less plastic if that is even possible anymore. I strongly considered making some myself but time is against me.

Does anyone have any first-hand experience and can make a good recommendation, please? Christmas will be here too soon!

Here's my take -

#1 - Brio - Still the gold standard for quality. Accessories engineered well. There's some plastic here & there, but it's thick / high quality stuff. Relatively expensive, but you get what you pay for. I have three little boys... after ~3 years of abuse, the Brio stuff still looks new (great paint).

#2 - Thomas Wooden - It's better than Brio in terms of product availability and development (new, neat stuff constantly coming out), and the obvious link in with the show... roughly the same price range, but a small notch down v. Brio in terms of quality. The Thomas trains are showing some signs of use... but still holding up well.

#3 - Everything else - Melissa & Doug, Imaginarium, etc. Again, I think "you get what you pay for" applies here. I've stayed away from it.. less play value, much lower quality, etc. Last thing you want is a two year old playing with a broken off wheel or splintered track.

Geo Trax - A neat, relatively high quality system. Not better or worse than the wooden stuff, just different. We've had a lot of fun with ours. I'd probably start / recommend the wooden stuff first though... a little easier to assemble the tracks, put trains on the tracks, and 2 yr olds really like to push / pull the trains...which is at the core of the Brio / Thomas setup.

Also, here's another company that's kinda neat... "North American" style trains (made in the US)! They also have "The Little Engine That Could" line. We've bought some of their stuff & its good.

Whittle Shoreline RR

Hey, Don, thanks for the detailed info. My wife and I hope to be blessed with our first grandson, Alex, by Christmas. I know I am ahead of the game here, but wonder what to get him when he is a little older that will be safe and fun.
Will keep your info and use in another year or so.
Thank you!!
George

Here is one I found on the Bay....table, storage bins and is compatable with other wooden trains:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-KidKra...?hash=item1e588d8672

Hope this helps.

Tex

Ask an expert; the mother of a 2 year old, which ones does he play with: the answer is always THOMAS. "He takes it everywhere, sleeps with it, wants to put in in the tub." At the store I used to manage, we tried other brands, had to almost give them away, customers would take the discount brand home, bring it back the next day to upgrade to Thomas.

Thanks, Everyone!

+1 for Thomas WOODEN set. My wife found a generic playtable online and I countersunk and screwed the track to it as having to recreate the "layout" daily was driving us crazy. Another upside is that there are Thomas vendors at every train show, so its a good excuse to attend and my kids always look forward to bringing a new one home. That being said, for a slightly older kid the new 60 dollar lionel set with mock legacy looks neat too.

quote:

screwed the track to it as having to recreate the "layout" daily was driving us crazy

Good idea for the really young kids, but the downside is the kid (& you) can't create their own / different layouts (which, as we know, if half the fun). By the time they get to ~3, they'll be ready to build, re-build, etc their own setups. My kids, at 5 and 3, probably spend as much time & have as much fun "setting up" than actually pushing the trains around.

Screwing is better than glueing though (which I've seen some people do)... at least you can unscrew the track when the kid gets a little older.

A couple other tips, for keeping track together (without screwing), these clips work really well (a MUST for the elevated sections): Sure Track Clips They're sold at most places that sell Brio or Thomas.

Also, if you're making your own table, I used a product called plasti-dip for the table top instead of regular paint. The Plasti-dip is much thicker, rubber like... so provides more "grip" for the wooden track (& prevents sliding around). Comes in a variety of colors, including green and blue.

geotrax stays together much better than the others. the engines handle the curves and hills/grads much better than thomas/brio. my son loves thomas but gets frustrated often when he plays with it.

I got some of the Whittle Shortline trains for my cousin and they look great! the NS GP38s they make even have the 'F' markings on the long-hood end of the frame! they are very inexpensive and they look great

we have thomas my boys are 7 4 and 16 months stared buying it when 7 year old was 2 THEY ALL PLAY WITH IT IT HAS HELD UP WELL . My uncle who is a carpenter built a custom 8 ft table because he could not buy one that met his standards its awesome everyone that sees it wants one. I have bought some other brands of stuff to go with our trains the only one that comes close in quality is the lionel if you can find it

Here my observation from working at the Great Train Store. Thomas out sold BRIO 3 to 1. Both Thomas and Brio track can work together. Both have battery operated locomotives Brio used a AAA battery while Thomas used an AA battery. I also noticed that it didn't matter which wooden train table we had out the kids would play with it. I can’t remember the warranty but 90 day would be the standard for both unless one has a lifetime warranty. You have to check to be sure. Brio was around and I had some growing up but Thomas is popular so take your pick or just get both.

I'll put my plug in for Whittle Shoreline RR. When we were looking fo a wooden train for our grandson I looked and looked for a set that was made in the ISA. Primarily because I had trouble trusting the safety of the paint. Ene those trains that carry the European names ar emade in China.
The Whittle trains are made in the USA, in St louis I believe, and we found them to be just great. I made a train table, found a company that sells a "train mat" and rubber cemented the mat to the table. It's going on three years of use now and the table and Whittle Wooden Trains are doing well


http://www.woodentrain.com/

The NYC TA sees some "Brio" wooden trains based on subway cars.

I will have to agree with Sean that Thomas always sold t least 3-1 over Brio. I have seen the Whistle Shortline trains and they look good if you are wanting American prototypes. When my son was into the wood trains, they never sparked his interest. We bought mostly Thomas and some of the Lionel products when they were on close-out. I bought the Thomas table top and my mother-in-law, who loves woodworking, went to Toys R Us and took pictures and measurements of the Thomas table and made a sturdier version herself. I put the track down with a dab of rubber cement and over the years we have been able to pop the track and buildings loose and reposition them when he wants.