Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway - Fire Station

I purchased this Thomas Fire Station for my son last Christmas (age 5).He loves all his Thomas the train items and this Fire Station was icing on the cake for my little fireman.He enjoys setting up the track with his Fire Station. As his other engines/trains circle the track a fire surpisingly occurs, than here comes the Fire Engines to put out the fire.This is a must have accessory to add to your set, if you little man loves being a Fireman.At age 6 he is looking forward to Christams and adding more accessories/builings/track/engines to add to his collection.

The Thomas train sets are great modern versions of the classic indestructible wooden train sets.Simple enough to avoid the toddler age frustrations of getting the cars to run on the track yet complex enough to engage a wide range of ages (up to and including Grandpas).All the stories help with the imagination part....the books & videos provide an endless source of adventures that can be acted out, although most kids are perfectly capable of inventing their own episodes.

Here is my advice, if you are trying to work your way through the maze of start-up options:

First of all, you can spend a fortune on a huge set....even if you can afford it, I would start with something small and give the child the joy of receiving a chain of small but intriguing presents over a long period of time.It fosters the joy of giving/receiving and helps teach them to come back again and again to the same toy...watching it grow, asking for specific items from the stories they hear, etc.Several reviewers suggest painting an old coffee table and this is a great idea.

I suggest the Figure 8 set (the most popular one) or if you want to spend a little bit more, the Conductors Figure 8 set.Both are complex enough to be interesting, but simple enough to give lots of room for growth.Almost immediately I would add a new present of one of the inexpensive engines (you can ask the child which story they like best and get that engine for them....or buy the engine to go with the video or book in the same gift)....these would be Percy The Small Engine, Bill The Yellow Engine, Treavor, (or a bit more $ for:) The Lady Engine, James The Red Engine, Gordon The Express Engine (he's one of the best stories, I think), or Henry The Green Engine.

Now for the good stuff!Give it a month or so, and then reward the child with something really cool like the Barrel Loader or Rusty the Construction 3 Car Set.

I honestly can't see the point in the huge multi hundred dollar system sets.If you want to impress the neighbors or something, go for it, but I'm telling you.....most kids will enjoy a large number of small thoughtful gifts, not a "keep-up-with-the-Jones" effort on your part.

Good behavior can be rewarded with a pick-your-own trip to the store (there are sometimes when a real time shopping trip can't be beat)

By the way, the Thomas stories are based on real restored engines that run in England on the Mid-Hants Railway Watercress line near Winchester (you can read about them an even plan a trip to ride on the real Thomas trains by checking outwatercressline.co.uk).They are a day trip from the London rail stations, although I recommend using a B&B in the Winchester area and staying overnight if you decide to go.Winchester was the center of the old Saxon kingdom of Wessex of King Alfred as well as a major early medieval site (the Cathedral has the tombs of many of the Saxon Kings as well as Jayne Austen and Izaac Walton and it was where Richard the Lionhearted was crowned.)

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I hoped to get this as a home for the Sodor fire crew engines I already owned. It was a pretty good destination and it came with an adapter you can use for the rails or the road. The reason why I give this destination 4 stars instead of 5 is because the fire truck is slow to come out of the garage at times, and you may want to glue the fire truck's hose and the roof pieces so that they do not get lost (as I have done). Despite this, I think it was a pretty good destination, and it would make a good addition to your collection.

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The fire station and related items have been recalled due to possible lead paint contamination from the Chinese factory which manufactured them.

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This fire station can be a cute addition to your childs Thomas set.However it can be tricky to fit into a layout.Sturdy, no problems there.You may want to super glue the hose attachment on so it doesn't get lost.