Train Tables - Where to start?

[Melrosgirl]

I want to buy my son a train table with the trains, etc. I have no idea where to start. I don't want one of the cheap train sets/table sfor $80 b/c I've heard bad things.

I've decided on the Nilo table. www.nilotoys.com I hear it's great quality.

OKAY, so once I have the table. How do I get the train on it? Do I buy a train set? Which one? I guess I want a Thomas one. How do I get the train to stay on the table? Does it glue down ? ( I hope not, but I have no idea.) Please help! I have NO idea and am very confused.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I want to buy my son a train table with the trains, etc. I have no idea where to start. I don't want one of the cheap train sets/table sfor $80 b/c I've heard bad things.

I've decided on the Nilo table. www.nilotoys.com I hear it's great quality.

OKAY, so once I have the table. How do I get the train on it? Do I buy a train set? Which one? I guess I want a Thomas one. How do I get the train to stay on the table? Does it glue down ? ( I hope not, but I have no idea.) Please help! I have NO idea and am very confused.

Unless I missed it, how old is your son? If he is young then the wood trains are still fun. But if he is older he will probably want an electric one that he can drive.

Mikeeee

 

[Melrosgirl]

He's 2.

 

[Mickey1122]

Go for Thomas and Friends.

 

[Mickey1122]

If you do go for Thomas and Friends as the "genre" of trains, the best deal is at Ikea. They sell 'unofficial' track that is exactly the same as the official stuff. You can supplement that with the official Thomas and Friends engines and save a bundle.
Also, Thomas and Friends has a table that you can get with it, and a TV show accompaniment.

Another bit of advice-at two, he will probably like to use a track that you make for him. When he gets a little bit older, he might prefer to make his own. Half the fun is in building it.

 

[Mickey1122]

I want to buy my son a train table with the trains, etc. I have no idea where to start. I don't want one of the cheap train sets/table sfor $80 b/c I've heard bad things.

I've decided on the Nilo table. www.nilotoys.com I hear it's great quality.

OKAY, so once I have the table. How do I get the train on it? Do I buy a train set? Which one? I guess I want a Thomas one. How do I get the train to stay on the table? Does it glue down ? ( I hope not, but I have no idea.) Please help! I have NO idea and am very confused.

I missed this question.
You purchase track. The wheels of all of the Thomas trains work on it. You do NOT want to glue the track down, because you will be stuck with the same layout forever.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

We got a very nice train table from Costco last Christmas, and it came with wood tracks and a wood train. The boys (then aged 5 and 1) really like Thomas, so we bought Thomas train pieces, which also fit on these tracks. You can buy Thomas tracks, accessories and train pieces (which are very nice but pricey), but you can also buy another brand of track that fits (like a puzzle piece) with the Thomas tracks and is less expensive. I can't think of the name, but they have it at Toys R Us and it looks very similar.

DS6 is less interested in it these days, but DS2 plays with it often, so I'm hoping we'll get lots of play out of it over the years.

 

[mtemm]

we bought this one for our son a few years ago. Its a wee bit different, but essentially the same. We added a few Thomas things to it, and slowly have replaced all the track with thomas track because its just better. But the set was fine as a starter set. If you have a Michael's or AC Moore near you, they are often great resources for Thomas stuff, and usually have the most reasonable prices.

do NOT glue the track. part of the fun is changing the layout. my son is now 4.5 and makes the most complicated layouts, all from his imagination.

 

[Beth76]

My son is 2 also and he loves the trains. We have a table and truthfully we only use it for storage. I tried assembling the track on the table and it's too small and my son loves to be down "in the track" pushing the trains along. We got our table and train set from Sam's several years ago for like $150. It's not Thomas or Brio, but compatible. We have some Thomas pieces and Brio pieces and truthfully, other than the actual Thomas character, we can't tell a difference. We thought about gluing the tracks down too because my son would get frustrated when they came apart, but he's getting to the point now where he knows how to fix it.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Thanks! I looked for the train table at Costco and they don't have it. I guess I missed it already this year. Now I'm torn between the Pottery Barn table with the drawers underneath and the Nilo table.

 

[JESW]

We bought our son the Brio train set when he was younger - the table, tracks, trains, etc. He played with it for many years - off and on the table. He is 12 now and all the train things are up in the attic to be passed on to his kids some day. (I get rid of a lot of their toys but the better stuff that will last I keep)

Do you have an A.C. Moore near you?? If so, they have 40% off one item coupons every week (and sometimes 50% off) and ours has Brio and Thomas items. I have bought my nephew (now 4) several things that way.

Don't glue the tracks down as your son will most likely want to change them around a lot.

They are great fun and our son (and then daughter) got many, many hours of fun out of it. It was a sad day when we packed everything up and put it up in the attic...

Jill

 

[mla2177]

I wanted to get my son (2) a train table too as he is obsessed with Thomas and has been since last Xmas. My hubby is very handy and decided to make it himself instead of shelling out $200 for a Thomas one. It cost him $35 to make and is better than the Thomas table in my opinion . Do you know someone handy like this that can make one?


Michaels puts out a 40% coupon every week, so I've been going over once a week and getting the Thomas track and destinations (huge savings)!

My son is going to be in heaven at Xmas!!!!!

 

[damo]

We found the train tables too small and instead purchased small shelving units for underneath and put a full sheet of mdf on top. I then designed and painted grass and lakes, etc. It was a lot of fun for all of us.

 

[binny]

I bought one at Target this year for my DD. She loves to play with the one at my brothers so I think she will get a lot of use out of it.

I dont see it online but it was in the stores when I was there on Friday. It was $69.00 and got great reviews! It is painted nicely with bright vivid colours.

You can also get a great deal on track there this one is $40. and has 120 pieces.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.htm...2/602-8388856-0300656?ie=UTF8&asin=B000GW129K


Good luck!

 

[holbear]

We bought a table off ebay for our DS about 5 or 6 years ago. He also has the Thomas trains. He never really used the table for the trains. It is easier to store them in a big rubbermaid container and then when the kids want to play they spread it out all over the floor. The train table works great for his thousands of legos, though.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Thanks! I looked for the train table at Costco and they don't have it. I guess I missed it already this year. Now I'm torn between the Pottery Barn table with the drawers underneath and the Nilo table.

We knew we wanted one with drawers underneath, and I'm so glad we did! We have extra train parts, track, and scenery pieces stored. And those pieces are often on the floor with DS2, so having the drawers makes it easy for him to clean up.