I usually have pretty good luck sticking to the wooden Thomas sets, but lately they are putting more plastic parts on them and really making the tracks smaller and too close together. The bridge on this did not work as soon as we put it together, you turn the knob and it moves a little, gets stuck, moves a little. Not fun and quite rage inducing for a toddler. I returned it immediately. This is way overpriced for what you get, don't be fooled by the pictureit's really small and the tracks are very close together, the tunnel is so tiny it has to be positioned just right for the engine to even go under, and several wooden freight cars won't fit under it at all. I'm always surprised at the good reviews for any of the plastic thomas items, like the trackmaster and take n' play sets. They never work the way they should and fall apart if you look at them wrongnow it seems the wooden ones are becoming the same way. I have a continually disappointed 4 year old crying because the toys don't functionnot fun to deal with!
I am very disappointed with this. The bridge gears/mechanical parts are very cheaply made. Bought this as a X-Mas present for my 3 year old son who loves Thomas and Misty Island Rescue. We were never able to get the bridge to work. The worm gear on the bridge does not seat correctly and the whole thing slips. I took it apart and the gears are small plastic junk that's not heavy duty enough to pull the bridge decking. The loading crane also came apartthough it can be out back together easily. We bought the Expansion Bridge and it too fell apart soon after purchase. We have some of the older Thomas stuff and it's held up well, but I will not buy anymore stuff from learning curve until I know it's not cheap junk. Hard to admit but I think the train stuff made for/ sold by Toys R Us is better.
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If you don't want to go through the trouble of fixing it, then read my next paragraph about why you should not buy this. If you're feeling adventurous, my fixes turns this into a really fun, frustration free toy. My rating is based upon the unaltered toy. I'd give it 4-5 stars after I fixed it, with possibly one star removed because of the effort I had to go through to make this worth playing with.
Learning Curve made a huge mistake when they used plastic for the gears and worm drive on the bridge. It feels terrible when you try to move the stage from one side of the bridge to the other. It gets semi-stuck many times and you have to force it by pushing harder. It won't go at all, really, unless you are bracing the whole unit with the other hand. The gears can continue to be cranked even after the stage has reached the other side, which is undoubtedly wearing the gears down. I've read a lot of reviews since I bought this and the final verdict is that the bridge will break at some point in the first year if you children are playing with it a lot. Another problem is that, even if it did work perfectly, the novelty of moving the stage quickly dies and your left with a feeling of frustration that you can't just simply drive across the bridge. There's only enough space for two train cars at a time, so forget being able to link up more than two at a time.
Also, the banked curve after the bridge is a neat idea, but doesn't work correctly because the curved pieces are designed to lay flat and not angle downwards. So unless its aligned perfectly and stays that way while playing with it (never going to happen), their edges don't line up which forces every train to drive off the tracks even when pushing it really slowly (the front outer wheel catches the lip and rides over and out).
STOP reading unless you want instructions on how to fix to toy.
These fixes will produce a solid track across the bridge and permanently install the banked curve so that it can't shift around. You need some carpentry/hobbyist experience. You'll also lose the three straight pieces that came with the kit, so you need to buy some replacement pieces if you want the exact design on the box and don't have pieces from other sets to spare. It's a lot of work for a toy, but my opinion is that its a lot of fun to play with afterwards and adds a lot to the Thomas layout, so its worth it.
Need:
-the 3 straight tracks from the set (2 large, 1 small)
-Dremel with a cut-off wheel or heavy duty snips
-wood glue
-construction glue (Liquid Nails or some other brand that is good for wood and plastic)
-10 panhead wood screws, 3/8" length (not including the head)
-thin spacers (plastic washers are fine)
-drill bit
-pin nailer (optional, but a good idea if you have one)
-clamp that has at least 15" clamping space
-miter saw (or hand saw, but the cut won't be as clean)
Bridge:
Takes about 1 hour, not including drying or setup time.
The screws need a triangle bit (which nobody owns) and some of them are very hard to remove without the correct bit. Rather than take the bridge apart, use a Dremel with a cut-off wheel and cut through the center of the moveable stage. Be careful not to cut too deep or you will cut through the center of the bridge itself. 1/4" depth is about perfect. I inserted the Dremel between the bars so that it lay flat and pushed the moveable stage through for better control over the cut. Alternatively, you can cut through it with angle snips or any other heavy duty scissor. The second method is harder and more awkward but, unless you have a lot of Dremel experience and can easily keep the tool from getting away from you and cutting pieces that shouldn't be cut, just use the snips.
Apply wood glue to both ends of the small track and attach the longer pieces on either end. You may need to shave the male end part down a bit to ensure that the whole ends are solidly contacting for gluing. Make sure the tracks are aligned properly and clamp in place for drying. I shot pins at angles through each side where the small and large pieces come together for added security. Do not shoot with a brad or finish nailer, you will probably split the wood. Give it an hour or two to dry.
Use the miter saw and cut to size. You want to make sure that the small track piece will lay over a bridge brace. To ensure this, I cut just above the female end and then took off a bit more on the male end. You need this track piece to lay in tight, so don't try to measure the cut mark. Instead, after you've cut the female end, mark it in place where the cut should be on the male end.
Turn the bridge over and drill two clearance holes on each cross brace just to the left and right of the long center brace. The screw should just about go through, but its head should not. Flip it back over. Place the track section on the bridge and line it up. Mark the braces along each side of the track with a pencil. Then flip the track 90 degree up and mark the bottom of the track where the center of each brace will contact the track (on the curbs of the road side). You'll notice that it sits a bit low. I don't know if everybody's tracks will sit at the same height. Mine was about 3/32" low. Find the size spacer you need to flush the track to the bridge, leaving a tiny space (about 1/32") for the glue. I used 1/16" plastic sheet as spacers. Place a small dab of construction glue on one side of each spacer and glue each spacer to each brace so that it touches but does not go over the lines you drew. The idea is not to see the spacers when you look down at the finished product. Now, place a tiny dab (super thin amount) of construction glue on the spots you marked on the roadside curbs, a thin sheet of construction glue on the edge of the plastic track on the bridge, a thin sheet of wood glue on the edge of the wooden track on the bridge, and set the track into place. Do not use a lot of glue or it will squish out and be seen. It is only to align and keep the track in place for installing the screws. Let it set for a couple of hours.
Turn the bridge upside down. Using the proper sized drill bit, center over each hole in the braces and carefully drill a starting hole for the screws. Don't push down with the bit or let the weight of the drill sit on the track or you'll pop the track off the bridge. You may have to drill through the spacer, but that doesn't matter. Do not drill past 3/8" (including the brace and spacer in total height) or your bit will come out the other side of track. Drop a tiny dab of construction glue in each hole (fill the hole about a quarter up). Partially screw in each screw by hand (an electric screwdriver can easily overdrive these screws) so that the heads just touch the braces but are not tight against them. Then, cycle through each screw in a circle doing 1/4 turns until the screws are tight. Not too tight or you will bend and then crack the plastic braces. The construction glue should have squeezed out of the hole somewhat, but not enough to be seen unless you have the bridge upside down and are looking at it from an angle. The glue acts as a threadlock. Clean up any mess if you have any.
Banked Curve:
need:
-chisel set
-knife
-sandpaper
-wood glue
-construction glue
-pin nailer
-small thin sheet of wood (~1/4" thick)
-small clamp
Unless, the 4 curved pieces are aligned flawlessly, the trains prefer to derail and go over the edge. They'll never stay aligned, so it's better to fix them in place. Besides the drying time, fixing the banked curve takes about 40 minutes. The plastic risers are designed to go in only one direction, be careful that you have it set up right before making the adjustments.
You may need to sand each male end part down a bit so that the 4 curved tracks can contact edge to edge. I call piece #1, the curved piece that attaches to the bridge, #2 is next to that and so on. I set up the whole section and attached it to the bridge and the ramp. You'll probably need to custom your plan, but here's what I ended up doing:
#1 and #2 were glued and pin nailed together on a flat surface. So were #3 and #4. After they dried, I put the two sections together and connected them to the bridge. The connection between #2 and #3 will be off. Glue it in the position required for a good bank, ignoring that the track curbs and rails are going to be off a bit. Clamp in place until dry. Pin nail after it dries. Then, use your chisel set, knife, and sandpaper to reshape the high sections to match the low sections. First, I cut a line on both sides of the track grooves with my knife to the proper depth and thenused a very small chisel to smoothly transition the track grooves. The reshape section was about 1/2" in length to smooth the transition. Most of the smoothing was done with sand paper. I spent a lot of time here to get it right.
Glue a thin sheet of wood onto the bottom of the wooden riser so that it is just above the height you need to align #4 and the ramp (mine was about 3/16"). After it dries, sand it down to the correct height so that #4 aligns with the ramp just right. This is easier then trying to find the perfect spacer.
Now, shape #1 where it contacts the bridge if you feel the need. Mine was a little off, but didn't affect the train's motion, so I left it alone. Don't shape the bridge piece itself because you may want to add track pieces directly off the bridge someday. For the same reason, don't glue or otherwise permanently fix the banked curve section to the ramp track or the bridge itself.
Lastly, set everything up and use construction glue to glue the tracks to the plastic risers. Don't glue to the bridge or the wooden riser because you can add different track sections there for various layouts. You can screw them down if you want like I did on the bridge, but there's a large gluing surface on each riser for good contact, so it isn't necessary.
You're looking at about 1.6 hours work time plus the dry and setup time, which is maybe 4-5 hours total.
Read Best Reviews of Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Misty IslAnd Adventure Set Here
My son kept saying he wanted a train set with a bridge and I happened to find this.It is kinda pricy but we got it on sale.It's important to note that you have to manually crank one part of the bridge which means that the battery operated trains don't really work unless your child is fast and coordinated.It's a well made durable set and it works well with all his Thomas stuff.I would recommend it but wish I had realized the part about the log bridge.
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It looks really nice but the plastic Thomas trains that fit on the wood tracks do not fit through the bridge.The tracks that go on the supports always fall off....so we never use them.The sound never worked.
The good things about this track...
1. It is set up for small spaces
2.The bridge is pretty cool
3.My son loves it because it is "Misty Island"
4.I am thankful I didn't pay full price!
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I think the concept of this toy is really fun, and my kids certainly enjoy it although you need to be prepared to search around for scattered pieces if you don't have a restricted area for shooting the birds. I find shooting toward a rug or on a table with a tablecloth keeps them from ricocheting all over the room.
