Learning Curve Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway - Special Engine Shed

by Thomas & Friends

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• ASIN: B00000JIC5
• Item model number: 99300
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #497,494 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Product Description

Editorial Review

When the trains of Sodor Island are weary from a hard day on the tracks, they head for the comfort of their sheds for a good night's sleep. The Special Engine Shed, part of the Thomas Wooden Railway System, attaches to a piece of track so that a sleepy engine can glide right in.

Winner of an Independent Toy Association of Canada Award, the Thomas Wooden Railway System is a wide array of sets that include special "clackity-clack" track, bridges, buildings, accessories, and all of Thomas's railway friends. Beautifully crafted out of fragrant hardwood, the pieces are smoothly finished and amazingly detailed, giving your children hours of creative, imaginative play as they re-create their favorite Thomas tales. Compatible with most other wooden railways. --Lisa Whipple

Manufacturer Description

Whether it's end of the line or just the end of the day, make a home for Thomas and his friends anywhere in your layout with Special Engine Shed.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth it, July 31, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Learning Curve Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway - Special Engine Shed (Toy)

I have bought a lot thomas wooden railway things. Truely, you have to spend a lot but it is worth. My three little children, age 2(twins) and 4 are playing them everyday. They have fun and they learn to decide who passes crossroad first. They learn to build. They use sentences from the tape. My work is to help them build the railway system on the carpet. Dad sometimes has a railroad race with them. Oh, very exciting. My experience, you never have enough straight tracks(8 inchs). And the longer curverd track is very useful when you play on the carpet.Good stuff!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Time For Thomas, September 11, 2004

By 

Richard R. Carlton (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learning Curve Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway - Special Engine Shed (Toy)

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 out watercressline.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.)