Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway - Wooden Railway Play Table

()I really wanted to like this train table. We have had Step2 Deluxe Canyon Road Train & Track Table for years. We thought a nicer wooden table would be a great upgrade for the kids. And they all love Thomas. (I don't know that I've even met a kid who didn't like Thomas.) But this table just failed to live up to my expectations.

First, it was really easy to put the table together. Only a phillips head screwdriver was needed. Even with little hands "helping", the table was together in 10 minutes.

I like the train storage on the underside of the side of the table. That is a very clever use of space. It also encouraged my kids to put their trains away.

That is where my positives end.

This table, while expensive, comes with no trains or tracks. You must purchase those things separately. I very much wish it came with a basic track and a train or two.

The top of this table just sets into the base. It is in two pieces and they are not bolted down or held down in any way. This is very problematic for my household. Also, the top of the table isn't very sturdy. It will hold essentially no weight, so hopefully your little conductor will not get too enthusiastic and climb on top of the table. It just won't take much wear and tear for such an expensive item. I'd expect much better quality and construction.

So now, I have to constantly monitor train table usage to make sure no one is being too rough with the table and no one is climbing under the table and bumping the table top. It is just a hassle. Perhaps the makers of Thomas the Train do not expect 3 rough little boys to be playing with their table. Not sure what these guys had in mind with this design.

Honestly, I like the cheap Step 2 table more. My boys can be more free with it and have less controlled play.

()My daughter is a huge Thomas and Friends fan. I built her an 80" x 32" train table with fixed track for Christmas, but after a recent birthday, she's already run out of room. I got this as a secondary table for her extra sets and as an area for her to make up her own layouts.

The table is very well constructed... the structure includes enough supports under the playboard that I doubt there will be any sagging, even though the board itself is only 1/4" MDF. Assembled, it's quite sturdy and includes some pretty thick metal brackets to hold everything together. It's much larger then I was expecting, with the play area measuring 48" x 32". There's also a 32" stretch of track between two legs on one end that can be incorporated into a set built on the floor, or it can be used to store trains... it even has a ledge behind the track to keep the trains from being knocked off. This 'ledge' is not show in the photos above, so it must have been a late addition (and a smart one).

A few complaints though... first, the playboard is two panels that are 48" x 16" each. This leaves a bit of a bump along the centerline, down the middle where the panels meet. I didn't have any expectations of disassembling the table, so I glued the panels down to the support underneath. It probably would have settled flat over time, but I still think it's a bad design, since it initially causes a problem with laying track across the seam.

Second, a minor complaint, is that there is so much room under the table that's wasted. For the price, they should definitely included a couple of draws.

Third, the playboard itself includes a lot of useless object drawn in. The landscape is nice and includes plenty of different terrain, but I think it's ridiculous to include trees and buildings that are flat. The actual 'trees' they offer for the Thomas sets are simple painted wood cut-outs. Skip the buildings, and include a half dozen actual tree pieces... that would have given this table a 3D element to it, and would have distinguished it from all the other train tables out there. I have a couple of friends with Thomas-style train tables and there's two similar tables at a nearby child play center... I have never seen any child pay any attention to these flat drawn buildings.

Aside from my opinions of it, my daughter does enjoy it quite a bit. Overall, this is an excellent train table, with a hefty price. I do think they could have done more with it for what it costs, especially from a line of toys that has been so creative in the past.

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()I have 3 children who are all interested in trains. We often deal with arguments because one train table was not quite enough for 3 of them to share well and still have room to move around the tracks and play freely.

So when we were offered a second table, I jumped at the chance. I'm so glad that we did.

We had owned the Kidcraft table for more than a year before getting this one. The Kidcraft has held up ok, but I'm very unimpressed with the construction quality.

To compare:

The Kidcraft table cost around $120. This one was $220.

The Kidcraft table is about 6" shorter which is fine for toddlers, but awkward for 4 and up. This is tall enough that my 5 year old can stand at the table and play, which she really likes.

The Kidcraft topper is basically thick cardboard that sits on the inner rims of the table. It's popped out on us more than once, leaving tracks all over the floor. This one is also thick cardboard, but a little better quality and has 3 cross supports to keep it from popping or falling through.

The Kidcraft is a neutral wood and also included a set of tracks and play trains. This one had no accessories.

On the pros/cons list, I have to say that the Kidcraft table is a better value for a starter set. You get more for $100 less, but it won't necessarily last as long.

The wooden tracks with the Kidcraft set are the same tracks that come with the Thomas wooden railway sets. They can be used interchangeably.

For kids older than 2 or 3, this set is really better designed. The kids have a tendency to lean on the table while they are playing, and the Kidcraft just couldn't handle the weight.

My only 2 disappointments with this table is that the layout on the surface is not made to look anything like Sodor Island. It's just a general aerial view of land and water. Since it's a Thomas-themed table, I fully expected it to have more in common with the brand product that the color of blue painted on the legs.My other disappointment is that for the additional $100+ they really could have included $10 worth of tracks or accessories. That's one aspect where I feel like they are charging too much for the same of a name brand.

Overall, though, my kids are absolutely thrilled with the table AND the blue coloring. The other one has been long since forgotten except by my 3 year old.

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()My son has lots of Thomas trains and track so it only made sense that we would want a table to put everything on. When we got the package, it was HUGE and my son was dancing with anticipation.

Installation was quick; it took my husband and I less than 30 minutes to assemble. I noted that there were instances where I would have to hold two pieces together while my husband used the screwdriver to attach them. A single person could assemble it (for those who are single parents) but you would need props and creative use of the floor. My husband noticed that the pieces that came pre-assembled had to be tightened up as well. There were some spots where following your intuition was better than following the directions but otherwise, there were no issues. In the end, the table was sturdy and felt well made.

My son fell to playing with it immediately. He loved the rack on the side where you can store your engines, but the best part was you could attach tracks and risers to it and extend the existing track configuration he's made on the floor. And it's after several days of playing with it that I noticed something: the train table is being used more for keeping junk off the floor.

The problem is the tracks we make often need more room than the table allows. My son's gotten accustomed to making track configurations of various dimensions and being limited by the table is frustrating. The designs on the table and board are very attractive and he's tickled that it's exactly like the ones we see in the toy stores, but actual play with the table is minimal since we don't glue down the track pieces. I think those who glue down their pieces would find more benefit to this, but then you lose the endless possibilities of different track configurations.

In all, I'm glad we got it because he seems to like it but it's not often used as it's intended.

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I was shopping for a train table for a long time. At last my choices were this one by Fisher Price and the one by Learning curve with a drawer in the middle, that is sold on Baby R us for 199. But after thinking for a while I still went with this one, even I like the idea of having a drawer, it seams like it is a very flimsy one, that can be pulled out all the way and can hurt your child, also it's still not big enough for all the train and tracks we have. I saw bough of them in local Barns and Nobles, my kid loved to play with this one maybe because of perfect size. Received it very fast, box was in perfect condition, instructions are pretty clear and took me only 20 minutes to put together. So far very happy with it, looks and feels very sturdy. My kid is also very careful baby, he does not walk around with wet cups that he will put on top of the table, so had not problems with paining going of. Really suggest to give it a try! Oh, And i was lucky enough to get it on sale for $179.

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