Toy trains are always popular. There is something about the way that the train moves in unison on a track that seems to fascinate children. You may have seen a few on your trips to your favourite toy shop. Sometimes toy stores put a wooden train set for kids to play and you see your kids having fun with the trains.
Question is, which wooden train set to buy?
It's In The Magnet
For one thing, I would recommend one that comes with good magnets. With a good set of magnets, the wooden train set can easily pull many cars without losing half of them when the train goes up an incline. Toddlers can also be quite rough on the trains - good magnets can help ensure that your toddler does not get frustrated because the train keeps shedding cars.
This Train And That Train
Next up would be compatibility. When dealing with wooden toy trains, you can never really run away from Thomas the Train sets. Trouble is, they can cost a fortune. The good news is that there are lots of other brands out there that carry wooden trains that are compatible with the Thomas the Train sets.
A lot of brands manufacture their wooden trains to a specific standard - the tracks are of similar width, the tracks are able to interlock with each other, the size of the trains are more or less equal and the magnets are of equal size and mounted at roughly the same height. Not only does this make it easier to integrate wooden trains from different brands, it can also save you some money since you can opt for a cheaper label instead.
All Aboard
My son loves his train set - which is a mix and match of popular trains and some obscure brand that I managed to pick up on sale. Children are really only interested in the trains and not the brands. When my son does ask for a Thomas the Train though, I can comfortably get him a single Thomas engine knowing full well that it will fit right along with the set I bought on sale... after all, he only needs one Thomas to lead the pack.
Happy train hunting!
