The super station from last Xmas I think can have the batttery trackmaster trains, minis and adventure/take and play trains on the same track. I'm quite resistant to introducing a new strain of Thomas into the household but the tracks look so cool to a 4-year-old boy! Invest in a load of bridges so you get the sections which enable you to change levels, then (pro tip! I don't want him disappointed though (he has had expectations in the past of getting particular engines and it's horrible to see him wonder why he didn't get them (because we're not mind readers! Take and play has recently been replaced with Thomas Adventures - exactly the same sizes but different connections for track and couplings for trains so you can’t mix and match at all.

someone explain the difference between the - Mumsnet Can someone explain the difference between the - Mumsnet

Trackmaster track is more fiddly to connect together, so there’s far more adult input demanded when setting up Trackmaster layouts.Not that I’m bitter at all or have spent many hours writing complaints to the bastards who couldn’t give less of a toss. You can get loads of "knock off" brio (big jigs, ikea, tesco - all fit together with genuine brio track). I think it was my favourite toy when DS was younger, hours of fun (we once reconstructed the roller coaster at our local theme park out of brio and duplo).

Mini Thomas Train Set : Target Mini Thomas Train Set : Target

It's cheap (that super station looked great but way too expensive atm) and at least you can pick up minis cheaply. And you can keep adding to it (we now have a crate which contains enough brio to carpet the entire ground floor of the house). They’re a pita to put together and don’t have any flex in them so you have to put the pieces in the right places or they won’t fit at all.

The Trackmaster sets each have an intended layout and instructions to make the layout - but the track itself can be made into any configuration, just as wooden track can , provided you have enough Trackmaster track. They also are unlikely to change the format of the wooden ones after you’ve spent hundreds of pounds on Take and Fucking Play because your autistic son has the lifelong goal of having every single train on Sodor.

Thomas Minis Track - POWERED Thomas and Friends Mini Trains Thomas Minis Track - POWERED Thomas and Friends Mini Trains

You can get play sets for these, much like the track master/take and play with lots of ramps and twists. Trackmaster trains are all battery powered too, which can get expensive when you have children who set them running and don’t turn them off. A massive heap of ugly plastic, but at least smaller than the others on offer and a good compromise. I’d stick with brio - you can get battery operated wooden Thomas trains online and BigJigs wooden track fits and is waaaay cheaper than brio of Thomas versions.

I think he'll like it as the one he was studying intently (we got him a poster ages ago with all the engines on but it also has ads for take n play. I think they've officially been replaced by the 'real wood' engines that have some 'exposed' wood in their design. Perhaps it's my fault for letting him watch videos of other kids playing instead of actually playing himself! I found this article which is useful but has annoyed me at how they keep changing things (and no doubt have changed again since that article)!

Thomas the Train Mini Track - Etsy

My nearly-4-year-old has had a wooden train set (brio etc) since he was 2, and we've added to it over the years so he has quite a lot, plus tons of wooden Thomas engines (he really likes/liked Thomas the Tank). Can I just get one set or will I need to add plastic track to it like we have with the wooden track? The Trackmaster track is the same gauge as the wooden track, so Brio style trains can be pushed around on a Trackmaster track and vice versa, although Trackmaster trains are bigger so don’t tend to work so well with wooden track tunnels and sharp bends. I’d avoid the Take n Play / Thomas Adventures style altogether - that track is completely incompatible with Brio style trains, and the sets we’ve had have been flimsy in comparison to wooden track and Trackmaster sets.Largish train, too big to fit on Brio style track, and most likely too babyish for a child already into wooden trains. Look - exactly the same track and trains just different connections so you can’t play with them together, ever.