Train Set - Floor Model Verses Table Set

I don't think a table is a good idea, unless you have a huge basement, it will just accumulate stuff. Not to mention the cost.

We started with the Thomas stuff at age 2. We keep everything in a plastic bin that can go to any room in the house. The track works just fine on carpet. Over the years we added trains, a town mat, more tracks and accessories.

The bin makes it easy for little ones to clean up, and if you keep it handy, will get played with a lot.

Unless you have a lot of room I would go with the Brio type track and trains. We have had Brio stuff in our house for 14 years and it is very durable. The drawback of a train table is that there will only be a couple configurations that will be workable whereas if you do the Brio you can take the tracks anywhere. Have fun!

Our son has both GeoTrax and Thomas Wooden. I personally feel that GeoTrax is the better option. He is now almost 5 and has had GeoTrax since he was 2. The GeoTrax set is extremely durable and easier for little hands to get the trains properly on the tracks. GeoTrax can be run by remote control or by hand (our son definitely switches off-I think they variety keeps his interest). The trains also come with little characters. So, as his imagination has grown, he even plays with the trains and characters without the tracks (which is ideal with limited space). While he does play with the Thomas trains on and off the train table, GeoTrax definitely wins with our son. Whatever you decide, your son will love it. The key is to let him play and then put it away for a few weeks. Everytime it comes out, it feels like a new toy!

We had a big box of Brio at our house (check Ebay, don't buy new) but my kids preferred Geo Traxx. It may have been because the Geo Traxx trains were easier to put on the tracks and the tracks snapped together - on our living room carpet the Brio tracks continuously came apart which was really frustrating for them (and with our small house we were not going to be buying a train table). The kids could walk on the Geo Traxx tracks and they would still hold together.

I'd also like to let you know that chances are, he's only going to playing with this train set for a few years. Don't invest tons of money into it.

My friend refuses to get a table train set for her kids. She feels it stunts their creativity to limit them to a table top. She loves that her boys will build a train all the way down the hall and all over. I think she has a point.

T.
www.Readandgrow.com

We have a set of wooden Brio trains and have a small condo - no space for any permanent set-up. We enjoy taking the tracks out of the box and building something new each time we play trains. Then again, my son loves train tables too. I think it just depends on what works for your home.

I am a huge fan of the Playmobil 123 sets and the non motor version train set is FANTASTIC. The reason I like it so much is that a child as young as 18 mos can actually put the tracks together and they stay together, and they can take them apart when they want to. The trains are fun and a good size too. My daycare kids love them and my 10 yr old daughter still plays with them. Toys R Us now carries this line so you can get it there, or you can get a huge second hand set on EBAY. They are very durable, I've had ONE piece break in the last 8 yrs and that was cause it was on another toy and snapped when I fell on it. I have a train table too, it's a Brio one that was a store model and is glued onto a board and the kids like that too, but the play that you get on that is going around in circles with the trains, fun, but not a learning thing. The play with the playmobile train is building the track, making it work and more involved type of learning play.

I have a four year old and a two year old and they love the GEO Trax trains. We also live in a condo, and it is fairly easy keeping the trains organized. We have two plastic bins one bin is for all of the train tracks and bridge parts and the other bin is for the trains and accessories. It makes it easy to clean up and my little can find the smaller accessories easier. I think they enjoy the ability to create different tracks each time they play, and it also teaches them to clean up after playing. My four year old still plays with the trains everyday and he started receiving them when he was two.

When my son was 2, we got him a wooden train track set. You could put it together a lot of different ways. It looked very similar to the Thomas sets and the Thomas cars fit very well. He even used his match box cars on it. The great thing about not having the table was that he could take the tracks in any room or take with when going to visit someone or when he really needed to play in his room instead of the living room. We bought 2 different sets and even though the connectors were somewhat different, they fit together. Ikea has a set similar to what my son had (still have pieces somewhere in a box in the basement.
A friend had a train table and it worked well for them but her son could only play with it in the basement. If she was doing something upstairs, he had to wait to be able to play with it and sometimes could not play with it at all.

Either can technically be done on either and if you are in a condo you may want to consider a train table drawer, they fit under a bed. I will say we have 4 sets: wooden, the metal gray thomas tracks, the blue thomas battery, and geo tracks. I tell new mom's to start with the gray metal thomas, they are so much cheaper and more durable, and they can be set up anywhere. I would also highly recommend Costco's train table, it is an amazing deal, it's only available at Christmas time, but it may be too big for your space right now. Feel free to email with questions, I feel like a bit of a train expert :)

We have a couple of different train sets and we also have a train table. The wooden set is very nice and I know will last years. The pieces can come apart easily and if you are going somewhere for the weekend and you take some with you are very heavy. We also have the Thomas road made by tomy. I love that, because my sons die cast trains, matchbox cars and almost any small toy with wheels can run on that. The other plus is I took the track and several trains with us when he went on a trip. I packed them in a plastic ($1 kind) bin and it was light and very easy to keep out of the way. However, that one is older and I am not sure if it is still sold in stores. I did check and it looks like the only place you can find it is on amazon and on ebay.

good luck!

K.

I know it's expensive, but I just don't think you can beat the Brio train. My son got the starter track set when he was about 2 and for years, we added track and train cars and engines (Thomas, mostly) to it. We never got the table, because we did not have a good place to put it all the time.

but honestly, I think it makes the train more 'special' to play with when it is not out all the time. We still keep all the pieces in big plastic storage bins and my son - who is almost TEN- and his best friend were bumming around on a rainy day.

I suggested they get out the old Brio trains and tracks. After a little bit of scoffing, they did - and spent the ENTIRE afternoon building tracks all around our living room and under the kitchen table and talking about when they were 'little' lol! They had a ball and actually, so did I!

Brio trains last forever- the company replaces damaged trains at no charge!- and they are the kind of thing your kid really can play with for years- I look forward to my son and HIS kids coming over to build with them someday. Go Brio and don't bother with the fancy table, IMO- keep it special by not leaving it out all the time.

Train sets are like many other toys and things we all get......they look fun, we want them, and then we get bored!! I bought a train set that went around the bottom of the Christmas Tree........it was put away with the tree and the kids loved to get it out every year and play with it during the Holidays......then it got packed up for next year. They always looked forward to it...... I understand that your mother might not appreciate you putting away the train right away......but if and when he does get bored........ make it a Holoiday tradition.

We love the loose tracks vs. the table. I have a 3 year old boy and one of our favorite things to do together is to construct new imaginative tracks. Plus you can put it all away in a cute basket when you want the living room to be less cluttered now and then.