Train Table/tracks

We have the IKEA train set and the cars can go on the Thomas tracks and the Thomas cars can go on the IKEA tracks. My dd does it all the time.

I did the same thing years ago... my younger son would pull the tracks apart. Problem is, I glued AND screwed the train tracks into the train table and my little one STILL pulled them up. Then I had train track pieces with screws sticking out (dangerous!) and some train track pieces had glue stuck all over them.

It wasn't the end of the world since I'd used the cheap track to begin with. but you might want to check into a good way to fasten the track to the table. I'd give you advice but obviously I didn't know how to do it either! LOL

BTW, I got my cheap track from Target at Christmas time. It was like $20 for a huge set of track plus trains.

I don't know about the Ikea tracks, but I do know that we bought some from Toys R Us that fit with Thomas tracks. They are made by imaginarium and they are in packages of different types of tracks. We are just about to nail ours down as well. I left it separated for the same reasons, but have noticed that my 3 year old plays with it more after someone else has set the track up for him. We too have a little one that takes it apart, so the nail gun will be coming out this weekend!! Have fun with all of those boys! ~A.~

J.,

We actually have one that our 4 year old no longer uses...we spent like $150 for it and the tracks etc about a year ago at Toys R Us...we were going to list it on C-list for $40. You are welcome to buy it if you want. Would be a cheaper alternative. It has all the tracks and such and yes the Thomas trains fit on it for sure. As for the Ikea ones, I'm not sure. But you'd have a table and tracks. As for the issue of letting the younger one use them, you could always put a smooth piece of plywood or some board you can get cheaply down over it so it can be removed and the younger one could glue them or just move them around. Anyway, let me know if interested. We were gonna post it this week. :)

Have you thought about trying to use velcro? Still removable, but probably not by the younger one. Just a thought.

I have a lg train track that is glued to a table that I would be happy to sell you for cheap. the stand that it sits on is broken & will need some work to repair but the track can sit on the floor. We have used Thomas trains on this track & they fit fine. If you are interested please let me know.

P.S. Some of the train tracks have been colored on as we are the 2nd family to own this set but the pieces are easily replaceable.

The IKEA wooden tracks we have also fit our wooden thomas the train trains & tracks.

We have a mixture of Thomas and IKEA track- they work together well. I haven't tried the gluing thing though.

Funny. I did this too for same reasons but when I glued them down, my son lost interest. Weird but true. We ended up selling the expensive table for $20 at our garage sale and tracks now lay in a box. The glue was hard to get off (we used hot glue) and tore the table and stuck hard to tracks. Maybe Velcro would give you all some peace? Thinking back I would try that now. That would stabilize the parts and they can still build like little engineers.
Have fun! C.

Yes, IKEA tracks work well with Thomas trains (metal and wooden ones). We bought all of our train tracks there after finding that out because they were so much less expensive. Gluing them down on a mat seems like a great idea. I think if we had the space we would have tried something like that.

For my son, we had a trundle bed (the kind where the mattress fits into a box structure) for him to build his train sets. If my son wanted his friends or younger cousins to play with his Brio and later electric train set he pulled out the trundle. If he had recently built an elaborate train set-up and did not want his 2 year-old cousin to destroy it, he made sure the trundle was pushed in. (I babysat my 2 year-old nephew so he was at the house every weekday for about 10 hours a day)