train table

Discussion in 'The Toddler Years(1-3)' started by KKing, Nov 9, 2010.

  1. KKing

    KKing Well-Known Member

    Im considering getting our LO's a train table for christmas.

    If you have one what kind do you have and do your LO's really play with it? what age did you buy it for them?

    Do Thomas the Train "trains" work on other brand tracks?



    any opinions would be great!!

    thx
     
  2. Fran27

    Fran27 Well-Known Member

    I got them the Imaginarium train table from Babies'r Us, mostly because it was the cheapest at the time and had the best reviews from what I could see. I can't comment more than that yet though as it's for Christmas also... I got some Thomas trains on the side.

    But yeah, all wooden trains and trains table should be compatible with each other (Imaginarium, Kidkraft, Melissa and Doug, Thomas at least).
     
  3. Minette

    Minette Well-Known Member

    We got ours at Costco, and I just saw that they have an even nicer version this year. ;) The tracks it came with are not the highest quality -- they don't fit together very well, and are sort of rough at the edges. However, they are compatible with Thomas, BRIO, etc., so I've been able to add to our track collection by strategic purchases at Target and one big score via Craigslist (some guy selling his son's entire huge collection for $100 because he didn't want to bother with eBay).

    The only thing I would suggest is that you reinforce the table somehow. Our kids used to climb on ours and I thought nothing of it, until one day the cheap fiberboard just sort of splintered and it collapsed (not with the kids on it -- when I was trying to move it to clean behind it!). DH added some brackets and extra screws and it's held up fine since then, but we don't let the kids climb on it anymore.
     
  4. TwinxesMom

    TwinxesMom Well-Known Member

    My parents ordered the girls a nice cedar table that way they can leave their geotraxs on it or my little ponies
     
  5. vharrison1969

    vharrison1969 Well-Known Member

    A lot of train tables and train sets are compatible, but not all, so do your research before you buy! I liked the idea of wooden trains, and didn't want powered ones, so the Thomas Wooden Railway line really appealed to me. The Kidkraft train tables and sets are compatible with the Thomas Wooden Railway, and were a lot cheaper than the Thomas branded stuff, so that's what we bought (we got THIS one for their 2nd birthday). I know it's very sturdy because I've found both of them sitting on it at the same time! :rolleyes: We've picked up Thomas trains here and there, and they will be receiving a few more plus some accessories for Christmas.

    As far as "playability", my guys play with it every single day, and ask to "get down and play trains" after just about every meal. :)
     
  6. maybell

    maybell Well-Known Member

    here's a silly question... do we really need a specific "train" game table? We have this huge square coffee table and I keep wondering if that will work. the only thing is that since its square I don't think they can get to the stuff in the middle...

    do we need the parts on the side that come up so that the table isn't so flat?

    I guess one thing nice about the train tables is that it comes with storage and a train set...
     
  7. Danibell

    Danibell Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    I agree that most sets are compatible, we have 2 wooden sets from target (bought about 6 yrs ago when my oldest son was into trains), and just picked up a few pieces from the thomas sets, like their bridges and the roundhouse. I also prefer the Thomas trains themselves, sometimes the cheap ones loose their paint and I worry about the whole lead paint deal. :)

    No you don't have to have a train table either! :D For my oldest we used our coffee table and built a "topper" for it, with a sheet of plywood, that we stapled one of those road rugs to, and ran molding around the edges. We would set it on top of the coffee table and used L brackets to hold it on underneath. But the brackets were only attached to the "topper" and just hung down so they rested against the edge of the coffee table so it didn't slide off. Kinda hard to explain but if you try it you'll figure it out. Anyways, this worked fantastic for a train table for him. Since then we've gotten rid of the coffee table, but the "topper" is now being used in his room for his electric train track! :D We stapled a track to it and it's slid up against his wall by the armoire, he can pull it down and use his electric trains whenever he wants to.

    Which is the reason we are getting a train table for the twins now! :lol:
     
  8. vharrison1969

    vharrison1969 Well-Known Member

    You don't actually *need* a train table (though I've recently seen a really cool one that doubles as an attractive coffee table! :wub:). The cool thing about our train table is that it has a "playboard" (printed with roads, a farm, trees, etc.), it has edges so the trains don't roll off, it's shorter than a coffee table so the boys can kneel or sit to play, and it has bins on either side for parts. The set I got had the table plus all the accessories so it was a good deal; I also like it that it keeps the trains confined to one area (at least it would if they would stop dragging their trains all over the house...:rolleyes:).

    You could also get a printed play mat so they can set up the tracks on the floor or put the mat on the coffee table!
     
  9. maybell

    maybell Well-Known Member

    great ideas for not having to have a train table, though I see the benefits too! I think we're waiting until their 3rd bday to do it... which is in April, and the start of the HOT summer here in FL, so it should work out to be a great indoor distraction! I think I understand the part about the topper and "L" brackets, that's a great idea. currently we have a round topper we put on the coffee table and set up our Christmas tree on top (keeps it out of the dogs way and hopefully up out of the kids way too), and then we set up a small round train of my husbands... should be interesting to see how the twins do with it during Christmas this year!
     
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