Searching for the best wooden train set for your child? I’ve turned my expert eye on the wooden train sets that currently on the market so that you can make an informed choice.
A train set can sound good on paper, but there’s nothing like hands-on play to tell you whether it’s going to be the right choice for your family or classroom.
The problem is getting that hands-on experience. If you’re lucky, a toy store might have one brand of wooden trains out on a train table. But that’s only one train set from one brand.
That’s where I come in. I’ve bought and played with a ridiculous, preposterous, completely-unbelievable number of wooden train sets. I’ve learned the up sides, down sides, and quirky sides of all the brands, and formed strong opinions about which ones are worth the investment.
Here on Play Trains!, I’ve made it my mission to share that knowledge with parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians — anyone who needs help picking out the perfect train set on the first try.
Below you’ll find a wealth of information, organized by wooden train brand, updated as often as I can with new sets and new opinions. And this post is just one of many in our Ultimate Wooden Train Guide, where you can find advice and recommendations for everything from the best train table to put your new train set on to the best battery-operated wooden train to zoom around it.
And if you have a question I don’t cover, feel free to ask for advice in the comments section of this post or by email.
The Best Wooden Train Sets by Brand
This guide was last updated on Tuesday, November 9th, 2021.
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Brio Trains
If you want high quality, high play value wooden trains from the start, BRIO is your brand. Many parents I meet remember BRIO from their own childhoods, and I talk to lots of grandparents who are pulling BRIO train sets out of their attics to share with a new generation.
BRIO has carried on its legacy of quality and good design, but it has also modernized its offerings, both in style and in materials. Most regular BRIO sets now feature trains made primarily of plastic. But the plastic is extremely high quality, heavy duty stuff — think of it as equivalent to LEGO rather than Mega Bloks. Also, there’s now a line of BRIO Classic sets that are in line with what people remember of BRIO from decades past: wood components, including the trains, and that “classic” BRIO look.
Modern or classic, either way you’re getting your money’s worth when you buy a BRIO set. They’ve literally been the wooden train standard for decades now. If a wooden train brand is compatible with any other brand, it’s definitely compatible with BRIO.
For a long time, I thought we’d never own any Brio trains because they seemed so expensive, but then we started our BRIO collection when our local Toys-R-Us was clearing it out years ago. Playing with those sets gave me a great appreciation for not just the quality of the trains but also the brilliance of the train set designers at BRIO. I’ve been happy to pay more for BRIO quality, and because pretty much every set is well-designed, you get a high play value out of a BRIO set.
BRIO Deluxe Railway Sets
Now, this is one of the most expensive train sets I’m putting on this list, but if you’re looking for an all-in-one set with enough variety, durability, and playability to last a childhood (or several), the BRIO Deluxe Railway Set fits that description perfectly. It sets you up with a full freight and passenger train system with lots to do. Plus, it comes with a cute storage box.
There is also a smaller — but not small! — BRIO Cargo Railway Deluxe Set. This set focuses on freight trains, with three (!) cranes, including a battery-powered crane and a very cool gantry crane that my son loves. There’s also an elevated section of track, and among the trains, they’ve included a battery-powered engine.
The newest and biggest BRIO deluxe set yet — the BRIO Railway World Deluxe Set — includes an airport, a farm, a ferry, a big station, and more. Each of these three sets has a different character, so I hope Brio will continue to offer all for a long while to come!
Classic BRIO Train Sets
If you’re looking for a train set that would look as at home in your childhood bedroom as it would in the playroom now, or if you want a wooden train set that’s actually, you know, made out of wood, the BRIO Classic sets are a great choice. The BRIO Classic Figure 8 Set and the BRIO Classic Deluxe Railway Set both feature trains, destinations, accessories, and track risers made primarily out of wood, and they’re all painted in the eye-catching, iconic BRIO style.
BRIO My First Railway Sets
Most wooden train sets are recommended for ages 3 and up for safety reasons (choking hazards, swallowable magnets), so it’s wonderful that BRIO has come out with this line of My First Railway sets for children as young as 18 months old. Intrigued (and drawn in by the rainbow colors), I ordered a BRIO My First Railway Beginner Pack Train Set to try out, and I immediately loved it.
I had my husband (who does things like woodworking and 3D printing as hobbies) take a close look at the trains from one of these sets to see what made them safer. Aside from the robust construction of the trains, he thinks the real safety innovation is the encased magnetic couplers. He was very impressed that the plastic magnet covers were secured inside the chassis — it would seem that they aren’t going anywhere, even if an adult tried to pry them out. The cover also protects the magnet from shattering into swallowable pieces — not that I’ve ever seen that happen, but hey, it never hurts to be extra safe when it comes to kids who are still in the “put everything in the mouth” stage.
Safety aside, these sets are well designed for the younger age group. These train layouts are more free form, with plenty of sturdy plastic ramps to allow toddlers to drive their trains off the track and all over the house. There are fun interactive features — spinning freight cars, bouncing rainbow bridges, buildable arches, and so on. The magnets spin inside the plastic cases and flip polarity, which allows the trains to be coupled up no matter which direction an engine or car is facing. (Personally, I like the problem solving challenge that the magnetic polarity of wooden train couplings presents to young children. But this would reduce this (generally short-lived) train play frustration for toddlers who are new to wooden trains.)
In addition to the Beginner Pack Train Set, there are more My First Railway products to check out, including a few other train sets. There’s even a battery-operated train set for the little ones, the BRIO My First Railway Battery Train Set. It includes a one-button motorized engine (note that it only moves forwards), a freight car with a reel that spins as the train goes along, a raised section of track, and a buildable arch.
BRIO Transportation and Freight Sets
Usually, I think of a starter set as a simple circle, oval, or figure-eight of track with an engine, one or two train cars, and a few accessories (trees, small buildings, people or animal figures). By that definition, the BRIO Railway Starter Set Train Set is actually quite a bit more than a “starter” set, both in size/scope and in cost. However, it would be a very fun set to start with — it includes a passenger train, three figures (two passengers and a train driver) who can ride in the train, a crossing signal, a bench, and a piece of luggage. All of this goes with a figure eight of track that includes a “rock” tunnel for the train to drive over and under. When you’re ready to expand the set, the BRIO Starter Track Pack Train Set is designed to coordinate with this set, and includes a picture of a possible combined layout incorporating both.
The Travel Switching Set was a very popular addition to our wooden railway. The Little Engineer loved that it came with two passenger trains, one red and one blue, with drivers dressed in colors to match their trains.
The Cargo Harbor Set was a birthday gift at our house a few years ago, and we just love the awesome container ship and the lifting bridge. (It goes very nicely with the Brio Train Ferry, which we gave him along with this set.)
The Metro Tunnel Set was part of the Little Engineer’s “surprise birthday layout” a few years ago. We’ve had a lot of fun playing with the metro tunnels, especially with the door that opens and closes on the metro station.
And for the construction-inclined kid, the Rail and Road Loading Set would be a lot of fun.
Themed BRIO Train Sets
The expanding range of BRIO World toys and sets is a wonderful way to combine train play with a child’s other interests, or to create a playscape where siblings with different interests can find common ground.
For kids who love animals or farms, there’s the Farm Railway Set, or the Brio Safari Railway Set Train Set.
For the kid who wants to be a firefighter and an engineer, you could get the BRIO Rescue Firefighter Set.
Hape Wooden Trains
A couple of years ago, I was surprised to stumble into the world of Hape wooden train sets. I already liked Hape toys, so how had I missed that they made trains? My expectations rose, and the sets I ordered to test out didn’t disappoint! It seems to be a brand on the rise.
In style, quality, and range of available sets, Hape wooden trains kind of remind me of a blend of the practicality and innovation of BRIO and the whimsy and quality of Nuchi, a brand we really liked years ago that has sadly disappeared.
Hape Railway Wooden Train Sets
Hape’s line up of train sets has changed and expanded since I originally reviewed their sets, so you’ll have to forgive the out-of-date (but adorable, right?) photo above! I will update it when I can get my hands on one of the new sets, but for now, it does give a good idea of the aesthetic and construction of Hape’s train sets as a whole, although the destinations in the current line up of sets are super plasticky-looking in comparison to this thanks to their shiny red plastic roofs.
If I had to pick one of the new sets to buy, I’d probably go with the Hape Grand City Station Railway Set. The station itself is HUGE and has a number of nifty interactive features, the most unique of which is a projector than projects the images of different cities when you insert different train tickets into a slot. It also has a record-and-play function where your child can record different messages to be broadcast throughout the station. We have a BRIO station that does that, and it’s a really fun feature.
I also like the Hape Crane and Cargo Train Set because it has coal cargo pieces and a cargo loader that could double as a coal hopper! So few train sets include anything close to a coal hopper or a water tower these days, which is so weird to me because those are two of the most useful destinations if your child loves steam engines. 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.
Hape Wooden Train Sets for Toddlers (and up)
Like BRIO, Hape has quite a few train sets and other products aimed at the toddler engineers out there. To my great surprise, when we compared a BRIO 18m+ set vs. a Hape 18m+ set, while the Brio had some innovations that gave it an edge in the safety/practicality side of things, the Hape set came away as the clear winner for fun for this age group.
The Hape set we played with was the Musical Rainbow Railway Set, and it’s the set I’d choose if I were buying a train set gift for a toddler today. It incorporates classic toddler toys (a xylophone, tambourines, a wire bead maze, and a shape sorting puzzle) into a bright, colorful wooden train set, so you’re basically getting a whole range of toddler fun in one box. My 8-year-old even found ways to play with the different toys that he really enjoyed, like racing to put the puzzle back together to fix the train before I pushed the train back around again. Each whimsical car of the train itself has a different visual surprise: a mirror car, a car that turns everything upside down when you look through it, and a car with a prismatic/kaleidoscopic lens. Also, all the wood is sealed, so any drool or potty training accidents that might occur are more easily dealt with than with other train sets.
Note: if the Musical Rainbow Railway Set sadly seems to be unavailable now, but the good news is that it’s been replaced by the similar Hape Rainbow Sights & Sounds Toddler Wooden Railway.
There is also the Hape Undersea Figure 8 Play Set, which is an absolutely adorable combo of sea creatures and trains. The painted water tracks with fish! The pool to drive the train over with little sea creatures attracted to the magnets on the train! So very, very cute and innovative!
Thomas Wooden Railway
For years, the Thomas Wooden Railway track has been my favorite, and if your child loves Thomas and his friends like mine did for years, the bright, colorful, and well-made engines will become dear friends.
I had been concerned about a possible decline in quality in the brand — more and more plastic that seems to be of a lesser quality, reports of track that’s not up to the former standards — but this became a moot point a few years ago when Fisher Price/Mattel has replaced Thomas Wooden Railway with Thomas and Friends Wood. (You’ll notice that Thomas and Friends Wood does not appear on this list of wooden train brands I recommend, not even at the bottom with the ones I don’t really recommend. I’ve been saying for years that I’m going to write an article explaining why, but I’m still too irritated for objectivity!)
With the real Thomas Wooden Railway sets out of production, eBay is probably the best resource to find them for those with super Thomas fans. We’ve also run into TWR sets at a few vendors’ booths at train shows, though their stock I’m sure is dwindling by now.
However, I do have one Thomas wooden train product I can recommend on this list!
I’m a little shocked that I’m putting this one on a best wooden train sets list, but as long as you don’t mind all the plastic, the Thomas & Friends Super Station Playset Train works with wooden trains, and it’s downright epic. It’s huge, and you get a roundhouse, a turntable, Cranky the Crane, a helipad, and various “destinations” (which are pretty much just stickers on some of the supports/tunnels) all worked into one big showstopper. This is a great choice if you’ve ended up with multiple types of Thomas trains in your house — it’s designed to work with and even store wooden, Trackmaster, Take’n’Play/Adventures, and Thomas MINIS trains, and it comes with adapters to connect it to Trackmaster, Adventures, and wooden train tracks (real wooden train tracks, not the new connectors from Thomas & Friends Wood). It also comes with an engine from each of the four lines (well, Harold in the case of the Thomas Wooden Railway inclusion). My son got a huge kick out of helping me put it together and play with it. I think his favorite part was hanging the Thomas MINIS from the hooks all over the station. Obviously this won’t appeal to everyone who’s shopping for wooden trains, but at least I expect that it will remain widely available for the foreseeable future.
Maple Landmark Nametrain Wooden Trains
There’s no denying that Maple Landmark makes the most beautiful wooden train sets around. Made in the USA from New England maple hardwood and finished with non-toxic paints and finishes, these heirloom-quality sets are a joy to have around. The quality can’t be beat, to the point that my own two negative observations on the NameTrain sets — that the connections are sometimes cut with a little too much puzzle-piece precision, and that the all-wood wheels and axles don’t roll as smoothly as the usual ones made of metal and plastic — are both due to the exceptional craftsmanship and materials used. I would also advise you to stick to the three years and up rating of these train sets, due to the strong magnets used (just in case).
I highly recommend the NameTrain Town Set. Like the deluxe Brio sets above, it could easily be the only train set you ever need to buy your child. 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. It comes with a whopping SIXTEEN trains, cars, and other vehicles, including a steam engine, passenger cars, school bus, race car, fire engine, ambulance, police car, tow truck, airplane, tractor, taxi cab, and boat. That’s enough to keep multiple children busy at the same time, making it a good choice for large families, schools, daycare centers, bookstores, and doctor and dentist offices. And there are five destinations included (a train station, house, fire station, school, and grocery store). And rounding out the scenery are four adorable, fully three-dimensional wooden trees. Another thing to note is that the bridge is very tall, with even Chuggington trains rolling below it with plenty of room to spare.
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. If you’re looking for a Christmas-themed set, they also have a cute North Pole Village Railroad.
Whittle Shortline Railroad Toy Trains
I have wanted to get some of these gorgeous trains for my son for years, and thanks to Whittle Shortline Railroad, we finally have some! Whittle Shortline Railroad is a family business makes the most realistic wooden trains out there. Handcrafted in the USA, Whittle Shortline’s trains look impressively like both the real trains out on the the real railroads and the traditional electric model trains that kids rarely get to touch at train shows and grandparents’ houses. The level of detail on these trains is just amazing, and thanks to some specially designed wheels, even the longest of their large locomotives rolls neatly around the tightest curves of wooden track. If you have a child who is obsessed with real trains or model trains, if your child has a grandparent, parent, or other favorite family member who is a model train hobbyist, or if you’d just like to teach your child about real trains, you have to check these out! You can read our full review of these amazing trains here. Please note that their train sets only include the trains, so you’ll want to get some wooden tracks to go with them.
CHUGGINGTON WOODEN RAILWAY
When Chuggington Wooden Railway came out, I wasn’t a fan. Their sets were made by the same company as Thomas Wooden Railway at the time (first Learning Curve, and then TOMY), but they used a lot more plastic, especially on the trains to simulate the computer-animated, cartoonish train faces. Chuggington train tables replaced Thomas train tables at many of the toy stores we went to play trains at during that time, and I was always having to fix the elevator turntable things that raise engines up to the second floor of their improbable two-story roundhouses.
I’ve softened that stance with time, especially because Thomas has moved on to Fisher-Price while Chuggington has stayed with TOMY. Chuggington track is just like the Thomas Wooden Railway track that I’ve loved for years, and now that Thomas sets include more plastic, it doesn’t seem like there’s that much difference.
It seems that they’re not making Chuggington sets anymore, but if you have a Chuggington superfan, try searching for “Chuggington Wooden Railway set” on eBay.
BIGJIGS RAIL
Another good brand to go with is Bigjigs. While not equal to Thomas and Brio in quality, their train sets are far more affordable. Additionally, they make a lot of unique and extremely clever pieces, especially when it comes to their freight cars and destinations.
Bigjigs offers quite a few interesting train sets. Their My First Train Set is quite possibly your least expensive option for a small, good-quality beginner’s train set. While it includes passenger coaches instead of freight cars, and so doesn’t offer the fun of loading and unloading freight, it does include two people and two houses. That could be more fun for some children than the freight. And then for a very large set with everything from trains to trucks and boats to airplanes, check out the Bigjigs Rail Transportation Train Set.
Moving on from their basic sets, they also make sets in a number of fun themes:
- For a car and train fan, try the beautiful Rural Rail and Road Set.
- Animal-loving engineers would really enjoy the Bigjigs Rail Farm Train Set and the Bigjigs Rail Safari Train Set.
- For your future paleontologist, check out the Bigjigs Rail Dinosaur Railway Set.
- Their pink and purple Fairy Town figure-eight set and the larger Bigjigs Rail Fairy Town Train Set (and even the adorable Bigjigs Rail Magical Train Set and Table) are very sweet.
- If you have a budding railroad history buff, you’ll definitely want to take a look at the Bigjigs Rail Heritage Collection Flying Scotsman Train Set.
- And for your wee pirate, there be the Bigjigs Rail Pirate Train Set. Yar har har!
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!) that coordinate with the pirate train set.
IMAGINARIUM TRAINS
Raise your hand if you shed a tear when Toys’R’Us closed down their U.S. stores.
(I am most definitely raising my hand as I type this. Metaphorically, because of the whole needing-hands-to-type thing.)
Beyond grieving the fond memories from my childhood and my child’s childhood, I also felt the loss of the Imaginarium wooden train line. Though I rated them lower than most of my other recommended brands, you got a great level of quality in comparison to the low prices.
All of our Imaginarium train stuff stood the test of years of train play and still looks great. I also liked that they offered a good range of fairly realistic trains. I was particularly fond of their freight cars, which made great Troublesome Trucks with the addition of some Troublesome Truck face stickers.
Now for the good news: as I was updating the list, I saw that there were several Imaginarium sets and train tables being sold on Amazon! I will have to look into this further.
IKEA LILLABO Wooden Trains
IKEA trains underwent a redesign last year. In the past, their tracks had plastic connectors that were a too-tight fit with many other wooden train brands’ tracks. I need to do more play testing, but the new all-wood IKEA tracks seem to be compatible with major brands. All the tracks in the set I have are made from a single piece of wood. Hooray for IKEA making the decision to change their design to be safer and more compatible! I tried out a Thomas, a BRIO, and a Chuggington engine through the tunnel, and unlike the old IKEA train sets, they all fit except for the Chuggington. But it’s really hard to find anything for a Chuggington train to fit under.
It’s also exciting to see new items in their train line, including an engine shed and a turntable.
Anyway, now that IKEA trains are seemingly compatible with other train brands, they’re definitely a cheap but fairly nice option for a first train set. One word of caution, though, is that one of my ascending track pieces had the top of the track sheered off at one end. It’s mostly useable, but I don’t know if this is a quality control problem or just a one-time accident.
Orbrium Wooden Trains
I love Orbrium’s unpainted wooden trains — I painted and used them for all the trains except Blue in the photo illustrations for Old Tracks, New Tricks — and we had some Orbrium adapter tracks that we were happy with. So I was a little disappointed in the Orbrium train set I bought to try out.
My main complaints are that there are some splinters on the cuts, there’s a lot of extra glue that built up around anything that was glued together, and there are occasional dents and chunks and rough patches caused by a dull saw blade, particularly on the switches, but also on the curves.
But it’s a decent type of wood, and they fit together and I haven’t found any problems with compatibility. They’re better than Melissa & Doug (which I’ll be grumbling about farther down this list), and at least they try to be innovative in some of their designs. The set I have is the 58 piece expansion, so it didn’t come with trains, but I’ve been using those unpainted trains heavily this year at train shows and recommend them. So as long as the paint holds up on them, their other trains should be okay. If you go with an Orbrium train set — or any budget train set — I recommend checking it over with some sandpaper, especially on the switches, and smoothing anything that looks splintery or feels sharp. (The places where the tracks intersect on the switches seem especially sharp on Orbrium tracks….that’s my biggest problem with them, actually.)
Melissa & Doug
Generally I love Melissa & Doug toys, especially their play kitchen food and their stuffed animals.
I’ve always wished I loved their train sets to the same degree.
We’ve had some Melissa & Doug wooden train tracks for a long time, and they are perfectly fine as far as tracks go. We also have a really big, cool bridge of theirs (that they unfortunately don’t make anymore, or I’d link you right over to it).
The thing is, I’ve never liked the look of their wooden trains themselves. Either they’re just a painted, flat silhouette of a train, or a more three-dimensional but blocky train design with a kind of meh paint job. We never ended up buying any of their sets for our original collection.
However, as I went about expanding this guide to talk about brands people often ask me about, I wanted to give M&D a fair chance. I bought a couple of their smaller sets to try out.
After playing with them, I still don’t recommend the brand. Their sets do tend to be inexpensive for the number of pieces you get, and the track seems to be made from better wood than other brands at that price point, so they’re not the worst choice. Just not the best one either. The main reason is all the corners you won’t see them cutting until you look closely, which I think leads people see the recognizable brand name and expect quality and thoughtful design that isn’t there.
Cut corner number one: the wheels. The axles on the trains are aluminum rather than a stronger metal like steel, which is the standard for other train brands. Only one side makes a nice smooth hub for the wheels. The other side is a messy looking exposed rivet or something. The wheels themselves seem to be made from a softer type of plastic. They’re thin and flat, requiring spacers between the wheels and the trains to not scrape off the paint.
Cut corner number two: the plastic. Even more than the wheels, the plastic in the circus cars that came in one of our sets is really obviously soft and weak. Out of the box, some visible stress damage already had turned the colored plastic white at the places where the car was assembled in the factory.
Cut corner number three: the tracks. I don’t know if the quality has declined, or just my memory, but the tracks we found in the M&D sets I bought recently weren’t nearly as nice as I remember the ones we purchased years ago being. The surfaces of these new ones are quite wobbly (as opposed to a nice, smooth, sand-flat surface), with rough patches on the wood and occasional splinters near the cuts. They’re still better than the tracks made of really soft wood, but they aren’t as well made as I expected them to be.
Cut corner number four: the trains. I still really don’t like the half-hearted look of the trains. It strikes me that they’re doing something to save money on production and trying to pass it off as style. I think that’s what my weirdly strong gut reaction to the sets comes down to: looking at the M&D sets, I just feel like someone’s trying to pull a fast one on me. I’d rather buy an Imaginarium set with the cheaper tracks, because they seem to put effort into designing functional, playable train sets, rather than just producing something that looks old fashioned that people will buy without realizing it’s just there to add another toy to a big company’s line up.
I could point out more cut corners, but I think that gives you the idea. Now I want to talk about the individual sets because people often ask about them. And really, if you can read what I’ve already said and not be dissuaded from considering an M&D set…well, they’re inexpensive, and the tracks will fit together and hold up over the years. And I should mention that the Little Engineer liked the look of the trains. Kid opinions count around here! When it comes down to it, I’d much rather hear about someone buying a Melissa & Doug set than a KidKraft set.
The first is the very simple Melissa & Doug Children’s Zoo Animal Train Set (which is maybe not being made anymore?). It comes with a circle of track, an engine, two circus-type train cars, and two zoo animals. The one kind of cool thing about this set is the set of circus cars (except for the fact that they’re made out of cheap plastic). I like freight cars that can hold any kind of object, and these are especially tall. But as I mentioned above, the plastic is already showing signs of stress straight out of the package. The Melissa & Doug Farm Animal Wooden Train Set (12+ pcs) looks to be a similar set with a farm theme.
The other set I tried out is the Melissa & Doug Classic Wooden Figure Eight Train Set. It’s 22 pieces that include a figure-eight layout with a bridge, a train with a coal tender, and one switch track that leads off to a siding with a buffer. I will say that the bridge itself is a nice, sturdy style. Out of all the Melissa & Doug sets, this strikes me as the best.
The Melissa & Doug set that seems to be the most popular for people who end up on this site to consider is the big Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Railway Train Set. At 130 pieces, it’s a lot of train set for the money. The layout seems heavily influenced by the classic Thomas Wooden Railway set that they had at every Barnes & Noble when my kiddo was a toddler. (Ah, the good old days.) The biggest problem with the set in my mind is the large amount of elevated track. It’s held up by narrow track risers with nothing to keep the tracks in place other than a small lip on either side. Those will fall over constantly. (If you do buy this set, you’ll want to read my posts about elevated tracks and temporary ways to secure train sets for ways to keep the elevated portions together during play.)
Finally, Melissa & Doug also make a Swivel Bridge Wooden Train Set (47 pcs). The swivel bridge seems gimmicky to me, because it’s not like it can connect to other train tracks, and a review I read noted that bridge can’t turn all the way around. So what would be the real life purpose of this thing?
Pottery Barn Kids Wooden Train Sets
I really wanted to like the Pottery Barn Kids train sets — after all, they look pretty in their staged photos. But I feel like the designers put all their efforts into making the sets look stylish for the catalogs, and not enough into the functionality or quality of the sets. However, one thing they do have going for their sets is that they don’t use much plastic at all in them, other than the wheels of the trains.
Our one and only PBK wooden train item in our original collection was a cute little firehouse that you could plug a wooden train track into. It had a button to push for some fire alarm sounds. But the paint was easily scratched, and the track connection was a tight fit and painted bright red, so it was hard to work with and also kept leaving red paint on our wooden train tracks. (I ended up wedging one of those rubberwood train tracks I talked about in the intro to this post into it permanently on purpose, to combine two annoyances into one.)
I didn’t want to base a review of the brand on one destination, though, so I got their 48 piece wooden train set to try out. It’s an okay train set, but I don’t think it’s worth the price, because it’s not premium quality by any means. The trains are blocky, and could have been sanded smoother before having their paint applied. The cow catcher on the front of the engine is attached off center, and it’s long enough to crash into the track at the bottom of the bridge if the tracks aren’t perfectly level. The paint on the freight car is either chipped or wasn’t applied properly around the edges. The track supports are just narrow wooden blocks with small lips on either side, and there was some kind of gummy glue stuck to the top of those. And all the accessories — the signs, the buildings, and the trees and bushes — were missing from our set. The glue and the missing accessories could have been a returns issue, so I’m going to try to see if they’ll let me exchange the set…it’s been a while since I bought it and added it to my review pile, so we’ll see.
Once you have your train set picked out, you’ll want to browse our Train Play archives for lots of ideas of what to do with them! You may want to read our Guide to Wooden Train Tracks for advice on expanding upon a basic train set as well. I also recommend signing up for our email newsletter to keep up with our new train ideas and activities as we post them.
A note on safety: Wooden train sets generally involve a fair range of choking hazards, especially when you’re dealing with freight for freight cars or other accessories. There is also the possibility of a magnet coming loose, although the only time we’ve had that problem in the past three years was on a Brio freight container when the plastic square concealing a magnet came loose. (We checked all the other freight containers and none of the others seemed to have the same problem.)
Most wooden train sets are rated for age two or three and up because of these dangers. Please take this into account when buying a trains set for your children, as well as their own stage of development when it comes to putting things in their mouths. We were fortunate that the Little Engineer was beyond the mouthing stage when he was only one year old, so we were able to buy wooden trains from the start of his interest in them. Even so, I did put a number of smaller pieces away until I was sure, and I always closely supervised him with his trains.
This guide will be expanded with time.
More Posts in the Ultimate Wooden Train Guide
- NEW! The Best Battery-Powered Wooden Trains
- The Best Wooden Train Sets: UK Edition
- The Best Wooden Train Tables for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Do You Need a Train Table?
- Alternatives to Gluing Wooden Train Tracks to Train Tables
- Wooden Train Tracks
- Bridges and Elevated Tracks
- Roundhouses and Engine Sheds
- Organizing Wooden Trains and Track
- Wooden Train Freight Cars
- …and more to come!
Hi, I'm Jessica! While playing trains for the last several years, my Little Engineer and I have had a lot of fun and learned so much together. I'm excited to share our discoveries with other people who have kids who love trains in their lives.
What a great bunch of suggestions! My daughter would love a train set for Christmas. Now at least I have a place to start! Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear this will be helpful, Emma! I’m planning to write a Train Gifts for Girls guide soon (if I can find the time), so you may be interested in that, too.
This is amazing! My son loves trains. We always have a track set up in the playroom and I’m looking for a few good pieces too add on to our set. This is an excellent resource, I didn’t even know about some of the brands you listed! I’m pinning and sharing this all over the place!
Thanks so much, Amanda! I’m happy to spread the word about the lesser known brands, because they’re really great buys. I’m hoping to write about all the cool stuff to add to the basic wooden train sets soon, too.
Thank you! I’ve been so overwhelmed trying to figure out what to do for a wood train set!
Wonderful! I’m so happy this was helpful, Annie!
This is useful! Thank you!
Thanks, Georgina! I’m so happy to hear that!
I agree with your opinions primarily. My elder son (4) doesn’t care about Thomas but I find our imaginarium train cars have much weaker magnets than the few Thomas train cars we have (little bro 22 mo really likes the recognizable characters. Santa is bringing several feature pieces and it’s including several bijigs pieces that are quite charming for non character theme. I’ve always thought Brio’s series to be too blocky (realize that’s not even a word) and I’m impressed with a few plan destinations I’ve seen recently- waiting for a Plan station to arrive so I can form a conclusion. We likely have only $100-$125 invested in train bits and it gets daily play as well as half fills a giant plastic tub. I do encourage anyone to have a crane of some sort- you’d be amazed at all the things that crane will do!
I haven’t noticed as much of a difference with the Imaginarium magnets as with some of the other brands, but I wouldn’t be surprised that the Thomas magnets are stronger. There’s a great video on YouTube putting various train brands through a crazy amount of abuse and the Thomas engine and track survives it all. The Bigjigs line really is charming…that’s the perfect word. And I agree…cranes are absolutely essential! My son definitely gets very creative with his.
I really enjoyed reading your recommendations! We bought a HUGE bin of trains and pieces off Craigslist when my oldest was two, and we have only purchased a few sets and accessories here and there. I’m glad to see the set we picked out for him for Christmas (from my parents – we are getting him a big Lego set) is on your list! It’s the Imaginarium Timber Log Spiral Set. It looked like the most bang for our buck.
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂 The log spiral set is great! One of these days I’m going to do a post about fun things to do with the spirals, because you can get so creative with them. I think it’s a perfect choice for him.
This is a great list. We are always looking for expansion pieces for our 3 year old’s track. 2 years ago we got him his first track set and he hasn’t put a train down since! We got him the Melissa and Doug starter set. We loved the simple lay out and the little bridge it came with!
Another source of track – especially if you are looking for specific pieces – is Choo Choo Track & Toy Co. in St. Louis. They have a 12″ radius curve, a wiggle track, and a cnc-milled wooden girder bridge not available elsewhere.
Symplo has an intriguing rail tile system, though I haven’t seen this offered in the US.
Mesko Toys is another source for custom track pieces, but have had a very limited inventory of late.
Oh, thank you so much, Tom! I’ve ordered from Mesko Toys before (and run into the limited inventory…they stopped making their wooden track awhile back, apparently), but I can’t wait to check out the other two to see about including them in my next wooden train post.
I just went out and bout this Thomas train http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-And-Friends-Wooden-Railway/dp/B001PADPQA
I am wondering if you would say that the thomas and friends gold mine mountain set is a better set then the day at the wharf set?
The small toy shop I bought it from at both for the same price $170.
Hmm…well, considering that I really wish we’d gotten the Day at the Wharf set back before it was retired, I say that one’s a good deal! The Gold Mine Mountain may have the edge, especially for a younger kid, because it will stay together better than the elevated portion of the Wharf set. But it’s hard to say.
ah, so would you say that the gold mine mountain would be better for a child under 2? I didn’t know day at the wharf is a retired set.
I would say Gold Mine Mountain would be less frustrating for a toddler, at least the version of it we have (and from what I can tell from product photos, the new version should be the same, though the one at the toy shop may be the older version anyway if they’re still selling the Day at the Wharf set). That’s one of the reasons we love it…it’s one of the most stable elevated track features I’ve come across.
My son really enjoys his train set. We have a variety of kidkraft, circo, brio and bigjigs track pieces. One great consideration for younger ones is securing the track to something so they aren’t knocked over or apart during play. We put together a simple train table with a painted plywood top for my son and countersunk holes in the middle of the track pieces so they can be secured with small screws. The table was or coffee table for awhile and is now in my son’s room. We rearrange the track about once a month or so at his request.
That’s a really interesting way to solve the problem of tracks getting knocked apart. I’m generally pretty opposed to securing train tracks, but it sounds like you’ll be able to switch to not securing them when your son is ready to start building on his own…great idea!
Looking forward to your post on train gifts for girls–my almost-3-yo b/g twins both love our train set, but it is very interesting how differently they play with it.
Also wanted to say that we started with a basic Thomas set, added a few engines (tried and got rid of the less-expensive Circo engines as they were too big to take the curves and kept tipping over), and recently discovered the BigJig tracks. They have a much larger selection of very high quality tracks for about half the price, even less if you watch for them on Zulilly. If your kids are interested in building more complex layouts or you want to work outside the limits of the Thomas playsets, they are worth checking out. Also, they have buffers!
I can’t wait to write the girls’ train gift list! I’ll try to get to it soon…after putting a bunch of photos in the toddler gift list, I decided that my time is better spent writing down my advice than inserting product photos, so hopefully that will help me get the rest of my lists done faster. Also, I’d love to hear more about how your twins play with their trains differently…email me sometime! I’m slowly working on more projects for girls who love trains, and I’d love more insight into the subject.
Great advice! I’ll be right more about buying supplemental track, and Bigjigs is one of my favorite brands for that now. We’ve gotten a lot of train stuff in the past from Zulily, but the prices seem to be equivalent to Amazon now. Although I don’t watch it daily like I used to so I may have missed a good sale there. I’m going to have to test the Circo engines we have on the curves…we don’t play with them much.
I love this post what a fantastic and thorough description of each set. With a 10 and 6 year who are still adding to the wooden Thomas set we started with 8 years ago. I love that it is so easy for every family member to find a piece that works with the sets, I had no idea that so many worked together.
What a great guide, thank you! I’ve been very tempted by the Ikea sets but wondered if they work with others, I’m so glad I saw this!
Thanks!! I’m so happy it was helpful. 🙂 I like the Ikea sets, but I really wish they played better with the other train brands.
As a life long HO scale train enthusiast, of course I want my daughter hooked on trains early—otherwise a certain hobby may not make it back out of the attic! This looks like a comprehensive site that I will be pouring over in the days to come. So far, I like what I’ve read.
Do you have a dedicated discussion to the people of wooden train sets? I like the feel of Imaginarium people, flat meeple like design and size is nice. I’m less a fan of the Brio articulated people in Brio sets that I’ve seen. I like the idea of laminating stickers the way you have, but not for my daughter’s age yet. Do other companies offer something like the wooden double sided people offeerd by Imaginarium?
Does Brio have any special markings on their track pieces. I have a bin of mixed pieces. Some I can tell are not Brio, but other pieces I’m not sure. How can I tell if it’s Brio?
I can tell the Brio track from the texture of the wood — it’s not as smooth as most of our other tracks, and the woodgrain is distinctive (it has little short darker lines, almost like they’re somewhat random dashed lines along the wood). So I fished one out of our track bins, and I was surprised to see that it did have a very small BRIO stamp on it, at the peg/male end of the track. I’m not sure if all our Brio track has the stamp on it, but I guess some of it does for sure.
You are amazing! Thanks so much for this. Do you have any thoughts on the Melissa/Doug sets?
So happy to help! We don’t own any of the M&D sets, but we do own some M&D track. The track is decent quality and worth purchasing, but from what I can tell, the trains in the sets just don’t match up to the look and possibly the quality of other brands.
I want to purchase the Thomas Gold Mine Mountain set for my son’s upcoming 3rd birthday. You mention purchasing additional track. How much additional track would you recommend to be able to complete all 3 levels? Can you direct me to a specific link for purchasing? We do currently have the very basic Thomas set that came with 3 engines and the 10 pieces of track to form an oval. Thanks so much for this site! It’s been a huge help in my decision making.
What a great third birthday gift! We love that set. What I would suggest to add to the set and what you already have are a) some long straight tracks to add to the bottom of the four slopes (the taller mountain slopes especially need a long, straight run at the bottom) and b) two switch tracks so that the trains can switch to the tracks going beneath the mountain. You’ll also need straight and curved tracks to connect that all up. I’m trying to visualize it in my mind, but I think I’d need to build it to know exactly what tracks to recommend for that. I’ll try to remember to try it out later this week…right now the floor is covered in a squirrel train layout. 😉 In the meantime, you can check out our wooden train tracks guide if you haven’t seen that one yet: http://play-trains.com/wooden-train-tracks-guide/
Thank you for your quick response. I do have a couple more questions. We also have a 1.5 year old, so I am going to purchase a train table. If I were to set this up on the floor, Little Brother would run right over it, literally. Would the Thomas Gold Mine Mountain set fully built out fit on a standard train table? Also, while I’m on the subject, would you recommend a particular train table. I’ve actually thought of affixing at least part of a set to a table to prevent the battles that might ensue. Little Brother is a rough boy 🙂 What are your thoughts? is the Gold Mine Mt. set a pretty stable set especially if placed on a table where you think my two could play well together? Thanks again for any help you can lend here.
The mountain itself is actually extremely sturdy — that’s part of why we love it so much, because it’s much sturdier than our other hills and bridges! I believe that you could fit it diagonally on a train table, but you might have to get a little creative with it. (I should photograph some of the tricks I have for building with this set…you can use curves between the middle support piece and the slope pieces to curve the mountain to make it fit, etc.) I really need to write a train table post…maybe I’ll put that on my to-do list for the weekend. 🙂 As for attaching the tracks to the train table, I strongly recommend avoiding that if possible. I understand why people do it, having had a toddler once upon a time, but it takes away much of the play value of wooden trains and drastically reduces the age range for which the trains will be interesting. However, I have some alternatives listen on the elevated tracks and bridges guide — http://play-trains.com/wooden-train-bridges-elevated-tracks/ — near the bottom of the page. The no-residue duct tape on the underside of the tracks is my top suggestion — that worked really well for us even up on a high railing around our son’s bed, and the tape comes off (even a year later) without damaging the tracks.
Thank you! I’ll definitely try the residue free duct tape and the Suretrack. I have one last question. I’m looking for the additional track. One thing you recommended were the two switchtracks. There are 3.5″ and 6.5″. Will the 3.5″ work?
I would get the 3.5″…the shorter ones make it easier to fit a layout on a train table. 🙂
Any experience or comments on KidKraft? I’m looking at a set that includes a table with storage bins for my two year old. Reviews look pretty good and I like that you get so much for such an affordable price.
I don’t have personal experience with KidKraft, only hearing second hand about a table/set from a very dissatisfied friend. I’ve seen a lot of reviews echoing her complaints, but a lot of people like the tables, too, so it’s hard to say. I think it’s a buy-at-you’re-own risk kind of thing…you might completely love it, or you may not.
That said, I’m working on a series about train table options and how to know whether or not you need one. I should have that up soon.
Do you know anything about the Chuggington stuff? Our two-year-old is obsessed with Wilson….
I know a bit about the Chuggington wooden trains…we played trains at a lot of Chuggington train tables when they were all over the place a couple years ago. 🙂
The track is (or at least was, last time I checked) very good quality, comparable to Thomas and Friends (my favorite track) — they used to be made by the same company.
The rest of the stuff (buildings and trains) is really plasticky (and not in the way that Brio is plasticky in a really nice, high-quality way). The trains are enveloped in plastic shells to make them look like they do in the TV show, and at least at very extreme levels, they don’t seem to hold up to nearly as much abuse (but for the average child, they’d probably be fine). The most problematic element that I’m aware of is the turntable for the double-decker roundhouse, which broke almost immediately at every toy store that had one near us. Which is a shame, because we thought it was pretty fun.
That said, if we were a Chuggington family, we’d have Chuggington train sets. I think they’re a decent option. I hope that helps!
Thanks, Jessica! This helps!! T
My son LOVES chuggington!!! I buy alot of discontinued stuff on happyhentoys.com they have all held up really well with both my 3 and 5 yr old. Our turntable for the double roundhouse has not broken yet. This is our main setwe buy. Its more affordable than thomas but works great with both imaginarium and thomas stuff. We have all.
That’s great to hear about the double roundhouse’s turntable! I spent so much time trying to fix them in the toy stores because it was a very fun piece. 🙂 We actually bought our first Chuggington set ever last night to test out for the blog, and my son is so excited that I finally let him get some “Chuggingtons” after all these years. 🙂 Thanks for the tip about Happy Hen Toys…I’ll have to check it out!
Thanks so Much!
I have been really wondering what train set to go with and was researching when I found this article! I like the look of Big Jigs, but my little boy has other bits and pieces of wooden tracks; Thomas and chuggington along with some trains – will they all work with Big Jigs? He’s turning 4 and is a late starter with trains – have you any recommendations as to which set to go for?
And finally – do all train tables accommodate all the wooden sets and do you know of any good deals on them?
Thanks so much again
Hi! I’m happy to hear you’ve found our site helpful!
Bigjigs is completely compatible with Thomas/Chuggington/Brio/etc., so that’s not a concern at all. I think I would maybe recommend this mountain set: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019C4KQS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0019C4KQS&linkCode=as2&tag=play-trains-20&linkId=HDUPCTC63UAOIRLT
Or, if he also likes construction, this one has always looked cool: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019C4KSG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0019C4KSG&linkCode=as2&tag=play-trains-20&linkId=EMT66P7JXQYOXBI6
Or, for something different, I love this around the world set (I’m so tempted to buy it for myself, but we really have nowhere to put more train stuff!), and there’s a couple of them left at a good discount right now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D4LOZ8U/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00D4LOZ8U&linkCode=as2&tag=play-trains-20&linkId=SAVNJA35N5VXGP4T
But if you also want a train table, Bigjigs makes a couple that come with sets, this Services train set & table: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00259C4NA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00259C4NA&linkCode=as2&tag=play-trains-20&linkId=E6KU6TWTNQOKHWRD and a city-themed one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JUQ4IGM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00JUQ4IGM&linkCode=as2&tag=play-trains-20&linkId=DPRWZUB3EXY6BXAX
And they also have a plain train table with no set that you could combine with one of the sets I listed above: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055R7PW4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0055R7PW4&linkCode=as2&tag=play-trains-20&linkId=EVOWL2KZB6TF3BH3
Pretty much any of the Bigjigs sets will fit on any standard rectangular train table, as far as I can tell from looking at them.
I hope that helps!
Thanks for all of your helpful tips! We are planning on purchasing a Thomas set for my 2.5 year old for christmas this year. Do you have any recommendations for train tables?
The Thomas set we are buying to start is the Gold Mine Mountain (based on your recommendations :-))
Great choice!
So, funny timing…I just posted three posts about train tables!
Here’s a guide to the best wooden train tables: http://play-trains.com/best-wooden-train-tables/
And this is my answer to the question of “Do you need a train table?”: http://play-trains.com/do-you-need-a-train-table/
And this one has some good tips on how to temporarily secure tracks (instead of gluing them to the table): http://play-trains.com/alternatives-gluing-wooden-train-tracks-train-table/
So, with the Gold Mine Mountain set, you’ll want to make sure you buy a large, rectangular table. I don’t think it will fit on a smaller one (although I have used the pieces of the mountain to make really cool, unusual layouts on our square table, like the White Christmas train layout here: http://play-trains.com/white-christmas-wooden-train-layout/).
My four year old son absolutely LOVES trains. So I’ve made Thomas and all his Friends, as well as, Chuggington a welcome place in our home.
While Thomas and Brio set the standard, it was nice to learn about affordable alternatives. I have Thomas trains, but no track or destinations. I have a railroad crossing piece by Brio, and am looking at the more interactive accessory sets, like the harbor and construction sets. I prefer the sets without the little people.
Melissa and Doug makes a very good quality track, and while the freight cars aren’t interchangeable, I found the red and blue engines, coal tenders, and coach cars a great substitute for James and Edward, which we don’t have yet. We have the Figure 8 and 130 piece sets from M&D, and they set the bar for me so far. The roundhouse, cranes and bridges really filled out the “Island of Sodor.”
Imaginarium also makes a good track, and we like the trains and freight cars. We have the Switches and Crossings and the Deluxe expansion packs, as well as the Harbor set, with a crane, truck, and boat. I am wanting to add the Timber Spiral set, mainly for the truck and freight cars, the added destination and the spiral support pieces. My only complaint with the Imaginarium playsets, is the reliance on the short curve pieces, which some Thomas engines and the Chuggington engines have difficulty navigating.
I got my Lil Engineer a Koko, Wilson, and the Brewster with the Digger car. Those are the only Chuggington pieces he has. They are too tall to fit under the standard bridges. But, he can play Chuggington when he wants.
I just purchased a used Kidkraft set off of Craigslist, and the only positive thing I liked were the trees. Plastic, but in two pieces, and more realistic looking than any other brand. The signs, cars, planes, and mountain tunnel will do. Otherwise, I am utterly disappointed. The spiral is all one-piece and plastic, and no train fits on it, with the track support pieces lowered in place.
I would like to recommend the . Especially check out the Track and the Layout Planning sections for info on track measurements, and train table reommendations.
Happy Chugging!
Thank you for sharing your experiences! I’m glad I’m not the only one who cares so much about this. 🙂
I’d like to clarify a couple of points, and fix the link I tried to add in the above post.
The Melissa and Doug freight cars are interchangeable, in that they work on standard track, and the cars get pulled around plenty by Thomas. But the freight cars rely on the peg system to hold the cargo in place, and while the cargo will fit into other freight cars, the M&D freight cars can only carry the cargo from M&D, due to the aforementioned pegs sticking up on the M&D freight cars.
With that in mind, I noticed after I purchased the M&D 130 piece set, that the A-Frame crane and the turntable were defective in the set I bought. After a quick call to M&D’s support line, I’ve received replacements for both. Since no return shipping was mentioned, I’m guessing that I get to keep the defective pieces. The defects were enough that the parts should be replaced, but they are still functional pieces, and so, now we have two of each. If M&D support reads this, just respond, and I’ll ship the defective pieces back. Otherwise, shameless plug here for Melissa and Doug trains and their customer service. TOP NOTCH!!!
The link I tried to add was to a hobby site for Brio wooden trainsets. I found the info provided on http://www.woodenrailway.info to be very informative, and a good read for anyone considering purchasing a wooden train set for their children, and for everyone considering Brio specifically. I gotta admit, there isn’t much written about wooden trains, and most Google links are to sellers and ebay.
Jessica, here would be a great opportunity to add a links page, or another chapter to your Ultimate Guide, to some of the informative blogs and wikis that do exist. There aren’t many, but they are out there.
I’m finding that I like the trains almost, if not more so, than the Lil Engineer who lives with me. LOL
That’s great to hear about M&D’s customer support! I think pretty much all of the brands that make the peg freight cars place the pegs so they only work with their own freight.
I forgot to mention the Brio site in my first reply — it’s a great resource! It actually did inspire me to finally make a links page when I saw it months ago, but I haven’t had a chance to do it yet. My time to work on this project is very limited these days, and my list of post ideas is several pages long. But I’ll try to get a links page up when I can. Thanks for the idea about making it part of the Ultimate Guide! I may do that.
hello
what do you think about Melissa & Doug train set (130 piece set) or the Kid Kraft table ans train set?
i have the opportunity to purchase one of these used for my 3 year old and wondering if i should just hold out on finding a good deal on one of the brands you listed?
thanks in advance
Melissa & Doug makes pretty good wooden train track, so that would probably be a good one if the set is in good condition. You could always add other trains to it later. I don’t have first-hand experience with the Kid Kraft tables and sets, but from reading reviews and hearing about my friends’ experiences with them, I’ve chosen not to include that brand on this list. However, some people love them and think they’re a good deal. Hope that helps!
Vaness,
Check out Target for the Melissa and Doug 130 piece set. I paid US$130 for mine at a local toy and hobby store. Then I noticed that Target sold the same set online for US$90. Might be worth looking into.
Having just acquired a steal of a Brio set off of Craigslist, this is my first experience with anything truly Brio. I find the trains and track to be of extremely high quality. The Melissa and Doug track is right up there. I don’t have any Thomas track, just trains, so can’t yet comment on the quality of Thomas tracks, but would expect only the best. As for Kidskraft, I would probably steer you away from that brand, as I was very disappointed with the set I bought off Craigslist. The trains aren’t really interesting, the spiral was all plastic and made of the smaller, tighter curves that most trains have difficulty navigating, the track pieces are of general to poor quality, the cargo pieces are not interchangeable, and the crane is of the hook type, not the magnetic type that most other sets employ.
I loved reading your recommendations and experiences with the different train sets. We mostly have BigJigs sets … bought the first set for our daughter’s 3rd Christmas … I think it was the Town and Country set. I love the look of the BigJig sets … we’ve mostly found good deals for them on Zulily. My son (2.5) also loves playing with the trains – well and pretty much anything with wheels. I introduced my niece to wooden trains with an Imaginarium set for her last birthday. I will definitely take a look at both the construction set and the road set when we decide to expand. Thanks again!
This is such a thorough and helpful review! Thanks so much for all of your suggestions.
We recently purchased the Thomas the Train Goldmine Mountain Set and have issues with the train constantly derailing. Is this a common problem for the Thomas sets?
I’m glad to hear it! 🙂
Assuming you mean that they’re derailing when they come down off the mountain slopes, it’s a common problem for most wooden train sets with hills/bridges followed by curved tracks. If you have the layout set up as it is on the box, with curved tracks right after the big slopes, the trains will derail at the bottom of the hills. What we always do is add enough straight tracks at the bottom of the hills that the trains can run off some of that speed before they hit the curves.
Love your site!!!
One question though. I live abroad and the options are very limited. IKEA is by far the best (and pretty much only) option to build up a good supply of track which is what I want. I would love to get an electric train, so wondered if you could recommend any brands that will go under the small bridges?
Thanks and again, great site!
Thanks! So glad to hear it!
I just tried all my motorized trains (several from Brio, an Imaginarium engine, and battery-operated Thomas) with an IKEA bridge, and none of them fit under it. I thought for sure one of the Brio engines would be small enough, but no luck! One thing I’ve done in the past is to use extra pieces of track or thin wooden blocks to prop up IKEA bridges and track supports to make them a little taller, thus allowing Thomas trains to go through the tunnels.
Thanks for your thorough research! In the past I have used Lego double pieces to make train supports, so it looks like that is the way to go and then I can get any engine. Thanks again.
Happy to help! The LEGO pieces sound like a great solution. I think that’s probably your best option.
in all honesty i believe bigjigs flying scotsman despite being green instead of blue would make a better gordon since there both the same class and flying scotsman was not really seen except for in one episode but that was it and thats why kids would be confused but that’s my opinion
Hey Jessica – Great page! Question: I got my son battery operated Thomas & Percy engines for Christmas as well as a lot of track from Right Track Toys (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005AW0RNS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01). The problem is that the motorized engines have a small bump on their underside that the push type engines don’t, and it prevents them from operating on this track. Have you every had a similar problem, and do you have a track recommendation that works well with these engines? I was looking at Choo Choo track, which it’s owner says works with the battery engines, but it’s expensive. Have you used them with the Orbrium track?
Thanks,
Mike
Oh, interesting — and disappointing, I’m sure! That’s not a problem that I’ve had before, but we have the earlier battery-operated Thomas and Percy that Learning Curve made. We have a new Fisher Price battery-operated Percy that hasn’t been opened, so I’ll get him out when we’re home later and investigate.
Thanks Jessica – eager to hear what you find.
Mike
Okay, I tested the new Percy on track from a bulk box of Conductor Carl track that I have on hand, and it worked fine except for some pauses where it got briefly stuck on the short curved tracks. But, I then tried the new Percy on a similar configuration of Thomas Wooden Railway track, and then again on some Brio tracks, and it had the same problem, so I think this is down to a design flaw in the engines themselves. The new motorized Percy is larger in every dimension than the old one we have is, and I think the wheels are slightly too far apart to go smoothly around the short curves. The old Percy handled them with no problems.
Anyway, Conductor Carl is the first entry on my list of recommended wooden track brands if you want to read more. I wish I knew which tracks in our toy box were Orbrium so I could try those, although I suspect the results would be the same.
Jessica – You rock! Thanks for your help!
You’re welcome! 🙂
I just wanted to add that I got some Right Track brand track, and you’re right, Percy can’t run on it! He gets completely stuck on the short curves. I think they must have a slightly tighter radius than the standard, which combined with the poor design on the distance between Percy’s wheels, makes an impossible situation.
Jessica,
Thomas has an even more difficult time because he has 3 sets of wheels. I sent all of our Right Track stuff back to Amazon and ordered from Choo Choo track. Awesome, AWESOME track, and bridges and tunnels that even battery powered Thomas and Percy can go over, under and through. The Choo Choo roundhouse is awesome too – and huge!
I think I need to get a new Thomas now, too, to do some further testing on this. Thank you again for bringing this to my attention!
We just got our first order ever from Choo Choo Track to test out this week and I agree, it’s great! That’s great to know about the roundhouse, too.
Please be very careful of some of the wooden tracks. There are some in the Thomas as well as the Imaginarium sets that have a spindle with a round bead to connect the tracks together. These spindles can be chewed and bitten off by children as well as pets. Definitely a choking hazard. I have filed a report with the Consumer Product Safety Commission just this morning. I purchased these tracks from Toys R Us. Not all the tracks in the same package are of this construction. Most are solid. The problem is that you cannot see this until the package is opened.
Hi Gloria, thank you for sharing your experience — how frustrating! Those pegs are definitely an unfortunate feature in many train sets now (they are cheaper and easier to produce than cutting the full track out of wood). Generally, they are used on more complex pieces, such as switches and ascending tracks, although some — generally poor-quality — brands will use them on all their tracks. I will be completely overhauling my wooden train set guides in the near future and one of the main things I want to show people is which brands use the pegs and which ones do not, because it is really hard to find out without purchasing the set what exactly is inside. However, generally wooden train sets, including the Thomas and Imaginarium ones I just checked, are rated 3 years and up, which is the common rating for toys with small, pieces that could be choking hazards, so I’m guessing the CPSC isn’t going to do much about it.
For you or anyone looking for train tracks without pegs, I can recommend these brands:
Conductor Carl (this is my current favorite budget brand, due to the one-piece/no-peg construction)
Maple Landmark / Name Trains (Expensive, but made in the USA and very high quality)
Choo Choo Track & Toy Co. (Another brand that’s handcrafted in the US)
There are also a few train sets that are rated for 18 months and up, like the Brio My First Railway Beginner Pack Train Set, which I believe wouldn’t be able to use that 18m+ rating if they had peg connectors.
Have you ever seen or used Mentari wooden train sets (In the US they are being sold by Tender Leaf Toys). They have a particular set I’m looking into but I am not sure how the quality is, although it does look really nice.
I have not — and unfortunately there aren’t any available through Amazon Prime, or I would’ve just ordered one and been able to let you know how it was in a couple days! I’m really kind of curious because some of their sets look very similar to and contain some identical-looking elements to ones that are sold in train sets under a bunch of different unknown brand names on Amazon. But then the descriptions say the sets are made from rubber wood and made in Indonesia, which isn’t consistent with that impression, and some of the bigger sets look like they’re trying to something creative with them. It might be a good choice, but it’s always hard to say from photos! Which one of their sets were you interested in?
The “My Town Train Set”
I just ordered an Orbrium set as a starter set for Christmas. Then I ran across the new Hape train line. Some of their bridge accessories look fun! Can you tell me if your Hape track and your Orbrium track fit well together? Thanks!
Hi Allison! I agree on Hape — I’m so happy I learned about their sets! I just pulled both out and checked, and they do fit together fine. If we wanted to get really picky, I could say that the grooves on on the Orbrium track are a little deeper (and thus you might feel a slight bump as the train goes over that connection), and the connection is pretty loose when you connect the peg end of a Hape track into the hole end of an Orbrium track (my guess is that some of these budget brands cut the holes extra big to make them compatible with as many other brands as possible). But sometimes it’s easier to make a track layout connect up when you have looser connections like that, and you’d have no problem building railways with them. I’d go for it!
My daughter is OBSESSED with Chuggington. I wanted to know if the trains will fit with the tracks and tunnels of Hape, Brio, Thomas, and Melissa and Doug. As far as quality, which do you recommend?
Thanks!!
Hi,
I was wondering if you would be able to tell me if the Hape set has grooves on both sides of the curves? Or are there any other sets you would recommend that have grooves on both sides of the curves?
Thanks for all the useful, if mind changing, advice and information on your site! You’ve given me lots to think about
I’m so glad my site has been helpful to you! The Hape sets do have grooves on both sides of the curves. I can’t think of any set or brand on this page that doesn’t have grooves on both sides of the curves…I’ve only ever encountered that in one or two very poor quality brands (and in the brand new Thomas and Friends Wood line that I’m writing an article about).
thank you for the review! i was gifted a hand me down train table – its small (22×32″ play space). i’m having trouble finding dimensions of assembled products online. do you think the beginner brio sets would fit on this small table? thanks!
Hi Jennifer! Wow, that is a really small train table — we have one that’s slightly less than 3 feet square and it’s hard enough to build on! I got out a BRIO set I hadn’t opened to test out yet and measured it, and after a bit of poking around I’m pretty sure all of these BRIO sets below would fit on your table. Anything that’s a simple circle or oval shape should work.
BRIO Classic Deluxe Railway Set
BRIO My First Railway Beginner Pack Train Set
BRIO My First Railway Battery Train Set
BRIO Safari Railway Set Train Set
BRIO Farm Railway Set
BRIO Rescue Firefighter Set
BRIO Metro Railway Set
BRIO Steam Engine Set
Hello- what an excellent website! Thank you for all of your wonderful information! I am going to purchase my daughter her first train set as she loves playing with them anytime she gets her hands on a set. Because of your excellent reviews, I have narrowed my choices down to three brands but am having a hard time making a final decision. A few notes: my daughter is 2. I would like a substantial set with multiple trains and/or other accessories to play with. I prefer all wood as opposed to plastic and wood. Money is not a consideration. The set will go onto a proper sized activity table.
In no particular order, the three brands are:
Brio Classic
Hape
Maple Landmark
I understand that if the top choice is Brio I will need to purchase multiple sets and connect them as their Classic line does not have any pre-made large sets.
If the choice was up to you, what would you do??? Thanks again for the help and support.
Hi Lee! Thanks for the kind words about the site! Hape is going to have more plastic than the other two brands, so perhaps that would be the easy one to move to the bottom of the list. Between Maple Landmark and BRIO…hard choice! I think I personally would buy BRIO, because the trains’ plastic wheels roll much better than the Maple Landmark wooden wheels. Also, adding a few of the non-Classic BRIO accessories, etc., would blend in better in the future, and you could add more BRIO tracks in a variety of shapes. But if you think your daughter might be more into the pretend play of the Maple Landmark town, with all the different destinations, and maybe wouldn’t care so much about the fastest wheels, then Maple Landmark might be better.
If you choose BRIO, I’d order right now so that you can get one of the cargo sets (http://amzn.to/2idjfpu) delivered before Christmas in addition to one or both of the other Classic sets. I think the crane and freight cars would add a lot to the interactivity of your train set.
I greatly appreciate your expert opinions. One final question, do you have any experience, comments, concerns about the Melissa and Doug wooden train product and would this be a viable option? Thanks again for all the advise.
Hi! Thanks for your advice! I’m gifting my 14-month-old his first train set this Christmas! I’m super excited. I found a Nuchi Baby’s First Jungle Train Set on Amazon. I know he’s going to LOVE the textured tails on the elephant and tiger. I didn’t know about this brand until I read your blog. Thanks for introducing it to me!
I wanted to ask what train set is pictured on the top left of your collage photo. The train looks bright and colorful.
Thanks in advance,
Beverly
Hi Beverly! I’m impressed you found a Nuchi set — lucky! I’m glad I was able to introduce you to them — I’m still sad they stopped making trains. But at least Hape is kind of following in their footsteps with the tactile toddler-friendly trains in the same kind of whimsical style.
The train set in the upper lefthand corner is actually a Nuchi set. (I really need to make a new collage — I think half the train sets on it aren’t available now!) I loved the look of that one so much, and it had the greatest little crane. I love the crane so much that I ended up using the it in the photo illustrations in my picture book!
This information is amazing and actually a little overwhelming. My daughter is 4. She plays with the train sets in stores and seems to like all of them. I wanted to get a table and simple wooden train set. I don’t think we need anything fancy or electronic. I don’t want to spend as much as Brio but I was thinking the Hape table and the bigjigs table. What do you think of the Kidkraft 2 in 1? This is all so confusing!
As I’ve been adding more brands to the page over the past few months, I’ve been realizing how complicated it starts to get! I’m working on figuring out how to improve that as I continue to develop the guide. For a train set and a table, I’d recommend Hape over Bigjigs, unless there’s a particular themed Bigjigs set she would love. (I don’t recommend any KidKraft products.) Hope that clears things up!
Thank you for all of the information and hard work you put into this site. I remember reading your website back in 2014 when my Son was really into trains. He was two and a half back then. Oh what an amazing time that was for us. I can still remember those moments as if it were like yesterday.
He is 6 now and will be 7 later this year. His interest in trains has shifted to other toys, but every now and then, he still plays with his Brio train sets and table. And when he does, I can still see the joy and excitement in his little face that reminds me of when he was just a toddler learning about wooden trains. We even created a new set up this past Christmas. Just like old times.
Thanks again and I am glad this site is still online.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write! Yes, we’re still here. 🙂 It sounds like you’ve entered the stage we’re in (my son is 8 now!) where trains aren’t the #1 thing going on in the house, but he still loves doing new and fun things with them. It’s always fun to hear about train kids who have grown up alongside mine! You might want to check out the book I wrote and illustrated…a lot of the activities were invented to make his wooden trains new and exciting again for him.
Thank you for your reply. Will definitely check out your book.
It is a bittersweet feeling watching my son grow out of his love of wooden trains. Makes me cherish every moment we have together. No toys out there that are quite like wooden trains and playsets and tables.
Hi Jessica,
I am the designer that created all the work you see in the Imaginarium train line. I worked for them for over 14 years so I can say as well, it’s sad they are gone. Your comments are very kind and I’m glad you liked them.
Hi Glen,
Oh, I’m so sorry. But also pleased to be able to tell you personally how much I’ve enjoyed your work over the years. I could tell there was someone who really cared about trains and kids and play behind them, and it made me happy to see it in a brand that more families could afford. If you ever feel like reminiscing, send me an email. Having spent so much time with so many variations on the end product, I’ve always been curious about how train sets are designed.
Hi Jessica,
I was wondering, do you have any experience with Janod train sets?
Thanks in advance!
H Beverly,
Yes, a little…they’re so cute, but one of the figures’ legs broke almost immediately in the set I initially got. Looking at others’ reviews, I saw I wasn’t the only one. I haven’t played around with the actual trains and tracks much (our first Janod set didn’t come with tracks), but I’ll try to get the newer set I got to review out and play around with it in a bit. 🙂
I am just beginning to dream of a wooden train set for my son who is 15 months old. I stumbled upon your site when Googling “best train sets” — thank you for your thorough info! I am still overwhelmed by the options and wondering: which would you pick if you had to pick just ONE?! I really like the variety of the BRIO Railway World Deluxe Set, but I also really like the styling of the Hape sets. I wonder a bit, though, if there is enough to do on the Hape sets. As much as possible, I was hoping to build a collection from a single brand, and also not collect too many (perhaps a pipe dream). So if you really had to pick the cutest (not that the boys care so much about that!) and most entertaining set or small collection of sets, which would it be? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Janine! (Sorry for the late reply — I didn’t get an email notification for the last few comments here.) Hmmm…it’s really hard to pick just one! I’m trying to figure out a way to narrow down the options for people, but it’s hard even for me to decide on what to recommend sometimes. In your case, I would probably go with the BRIO Railway World Deluxe Set, but with the caution that there are going to be some elements that you’ll need to put away or supervise for a while yet with such a little guy. (I was lucky in that my kiddo stopped putting things in his mouth at a very young age, but even then you have to be careful.) The BRIO stuff is just so cool and interactive, with so many connections to the real world. And since you want to stay with a single brand, there are a lot of directions you can expand a BRIO collection with BRIO World sets, depending on what kind of other interests he develops.
Jessica – you mentioned that you’re writing an article critical of the Thomas and Friends Wood in this article and in the comments. Did you ever publish that article? I can’t seem to find it on your site. Or did “Big Train” muzzle you? The truth must come out!
(Sorry for the late reply; apparently my site hasn’t sent me comment notifications in a very long time!) Hahahaha–Big Train wishes! I still hate it as much as ever but writing the article just stressed me out. Maybe I can give it a go now that it’s been a few years.
Hi Jessica
Can you tell me if the John Lewis products are compatible with the IKEA and Brio brands, please.
You’re providing a wonderful service here, by the way.
Thank you
John
(Sorry for the late reply; apparently my site hasn’t sent me comment notifications in a very long time!) I haven’t heard of that brand before–from a quick Google, it looks like a lot of the other generic off brand sets I’ve seen, so it’s probably at least intended to be fully compatible, but I haven’t tried the track myself.
What a comprehensive list! Thank you!! Really helped to understand the different brands. If price wasn’t a factor, which would you choose? Brio or hape? Thanks!!