For some reason, these intrigue me. Appears there is quite an assortment of the Thomas & Friends line. I'd like to get a set for my younger children. Should I be looking at a different brand?
Regards - Steve
I think you are looking for wooden toy trains, but not model trains.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Bachmann makes plastic electric Thomas trains. I think you want wooden push by hand trains made by Mattel I think.
Joe Staten Island West
I've seen some Amish made wood trains. There are lots of videos on making your own, dad.
Mike.
My You Tube
Melissa & Doug make a pretty extensive line of wooden toy trains with track sections. The Whittle Shortline RR line are similar - run on the same track etc. - but have more trains based on real ones, like BNSF engines. Another well-known line that's been around a while is Brio. Some hobby shops carry one or more of the lines, otherwise you can usually find one or more lines carried at Walmart, Target, or other stores.
https://www.melissaanddoug.com/our-toys/vehicles/trains-and-railway-sets/
https://woodentrain.com/
https://www.brio.us/products/all-products/railway
Thomas the Tank wooden trains are the best of the wooden trains. They are well painted (other makes vary with the cheapest not painted). The line is very extensive. Thomas also has an extensive line of DVDs and books. My grandson loved them and even at 8 still plays with the trains from time to time.
There is also a battery operated Thomas that works with plastic track. Electric Thomas trains are available in several scales but have the most in HO and 3 rail O gauge.
Paul
The Thomas wooden trains are excellent.
My dentist has a large set-up in the waiting room, and they get played with a lot and are still holding up very well.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Note that most all of the smaller wood-train-and-track items are compatible with each other, like the ones in my earlier link. Most all use a round metal magnetized ball on each end of the car as a "coupler", so you can mix-and-match various kinds of trains on the same "layout".
My kids had Brio and they loved them. However, I did make one big mistake. I made a permanent layout with all the track fixed in place. The kids enjoyed it but it took a lot of the creativity out of the setup. I think the kids would have had a lot more fun if they had been able to play with the loose track pieces to make their own designs.
One thing I noticed in a lot of the new sets is that there are rerailers included that allow the trains to be driven off of the track and onto a flat surface, and back on again without the trains having to be picked up to put them back on the 'rails'. I think that is brilliant!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!