Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Steaming Around Sodor Battery Powered Set

We gave this toy to our toddler for his second birthday. Big hit. However, two issues: 1) The bridge connector pieces don't match what's shown in the picture. (They are the natural wood pieces like the rest of the track not the gray piece with what looks like a reinforced base.) 2) The motorized Thomas engine sucks down *a battery a day* and now, after three days, has completely died. I have made sure it's turned off so it's not running for hours on end, but still dead. Naturally, we've already discarded the packaging, so unless the seller is willing to send me a new Thomas engine, this whole package was a bust for the money.

*Update*: Amazon sent us a new train train set so that I could swap out the battery-operated Thomas engine. (Good customer service.) That engine died after 2-3 weeks. I contacted Learning Curve directly, and I was able to send that engine to them (under warranty) for a replacement. It's only been about a week since we received our third battery-operated Thomas, so we'll see... but I'm not very optimistic. The train set is still nice, but in hindsight the battery-operated engine is more trouble than it's worth. And of course, that means it's my son's favorite piece, so when it stops working, it's a mini crisis. But when it's working, he's a happy kid.

We did quite a bit of research before buying this playset and decided to go ahead and purchase it from Amazon Warehouse Deals in "used like new" condition. The product box had been opened, but the contents were unopened/unused so obviously, we feel we got a great deal!

One thing was different than what is displayed on the product page. The plastic inclined tracks were replaced with normal wooden inclined tracks and we feel that is probably an improvement. The color packaging also shows this difference clearly as well so perhaps this was a recent manufacturer change or the Amazon picture is just old. The main reason we like this change is that we can use the wooden track pieces with DazyUSA clips easier; we have some plastic inclined parts for another bridge already.

Two previous reviewers mention that the inclined parts do not fit properly into the bridge and the reason may be user error or missing parts. There are 2 blank wooden squares included and each is supposed to be set below the track connectors on the bridge to keep the inclines from falling out. There is a slot on each side of the bridge for them to slide right into place.

In any event, this playset was a big hit in our house because of the various parts. We purposely removed the battery-powered train before our son realized the distinction; he already has 4 variants of Thomas. If we test out the train and it does not work for more than a battery cycle, as has been described by other reviewers, our son will not realize the problem and he will still be very happy with the playset.

Buy Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Steaming Around Sodor Battery Powered Set Now

The up/down ramps are wooden ascend/descend tracks not the gray pieces pictured. The small wooden blocks that slide under the connection points of the bridge to keep those tracks in place move too easily and you are better off to just glue them in place. The engine itself has a tendency to drive off the track. Don't attache cars to the engine as when going up the ramp they will bind with the back of the engine and disconnect the group, or force the cars to tip off the tracks.

Read Best Reviews of Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Steaming Around Sodor Battery Powered Set Here

We got this toy for our almost 3 year old son for Christmas. It is a lot of fun !

It is a small set with powered Thomas. The bridge could be a little sturdier but there are two small wooden blocks that you slide on each end of the bridge that help to keep the trucks in place-It's important that you do that !

Thomas fell of the trucks a few times at the begging but now for some reason it works better. It may be due to his speed. At thins point the battery is a little weaker. We have been playing with it for one whole day now and we are very happy with it. I would recommend it.

Want Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Steaming Around Sodor Battery Powered Set Discount?

This train set is perfect for my almost-3-year old! He loves the bridge and the tunnel! It is small enough to put together easily without taking up too much space, but large enough to accommodate more than one small train. It has been hours of fun for our family!

Save 38% Off