Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway- Down By The Docks Set

The Thomas train and train collections are durable toys. Their real value, though, is that playing with the toys allows children to act out the great Thomas and Friends children's stories they read and watch.

This is a nice layout that provides far more track than the usual figure 8 layout that gets purchased first. But it is very expensive. There is generic track available that costs far less. Our kids haven't noticed the difference. IT IS EASY TO CREATE ELEVATED TRACK AND BRIDGES USING LEGO OR DUPLO PIECES AS SUPPORTS.GENERIC CRANES ARE AVAILABLE FOR MUCH LESS.

Kids' imaginations can remarkably supply buildings and water towers and cranes, etc., so that they won't even miss what might be lacking from less expensive sets. And families can build some of these items themselves out of old boxes, etc.

Purchasing recommendation:

* Choose which type of Thomas trains you will 'standardize' on. There are three kinds: This size of wooden trains from Learning Curve; larger, plastic, battery-operated trains from Tomy; and smaller, die-cast metal trains from Ertl. The wooden trains have the most products and accessories available.

* The clickety-clack (grooved to look like real railroad) track in the Thomas series is great, but it's expensive; I recommend buying generic track. ... You can literally save hundreds of dollars by buying these kinds of sets.

* Buy the Thomas and friends engines separately--and wait for sales. The kids care about the characters, so no short-cutting (ie., Brio or generic trains) here.

* Look for trains bundled with VHS videos. You can get a video and a train (on sale) for about the same price as a train alone.

Santa brought this set for my 3 year old son last Christmas and he has played with it everyday since. With daily use, this wooden set is holding up to his rough play. His favorite piece is Cranky the Crane. It's easy to add onto as we have added the hospital and another bridge. We purchased a Nilo table to put the train on so it will stay together. Well worth the money!

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This product was perfect and the price was a minimum $30 $40 cheaper than in local stores (Yes, even after shipping!!).I do want to note that if your child already has a set then trying to intermix them will test your engineering degree or patience.The only thing stopping all five stars is that the elevated track corners routinely pop apart with 3-4 year old play.I also recommend that a play table be purchased and used.My child's table and set was a hit with the party guest (even the adults).I found it really was a positive builder for sharing / interactive playtime.

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My 3-yr. old grandson loves everything "Thomas"...knows the names of all the engines, etc. He has the other 2 types of Thomas railways at his house so I decided to go with the wooden ones for "Grammy's House".A big hit on Christmas morning and everytime he comes over.This set is especially nice because it includes other characters like "cranky the crane".It was easy to set up....I have only one tiny complaint.I do not have a train table so it's set up on a board on the floor.The plastic play mat slips around and doesn't want to lie flat yet.It would be so much better if the company would put it on a monopoly type board that folds and could open up instead of the plastic mat.It would "stay-put" and be much more functional.

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My five year old loves this train set! He spends hours playing with it using his imagination. Unfortunately, one of the curved track pieces broke. After a quick phone call, Learning Curve replaced it immediately.