Train Table recommendations

[khanni]

I'm thinking of getting my son a train table for his 2nd birthday. I'm sure his 4 year-old sister will be playing with it, too. Anyone have any recommendations? I've been looking on craigslist for a used one, but am having a hard time finding one that isn't far away.

[mbhf]

I have this one and I love it. If you watch the weekly sales, it does come up sometimes, I got mine for $59. But even for $85 it's a great deal. It's a slightly smaller size than most train tables, but it is not small and I frequently have 3-5 kids around it. We actually have two, one for trains in the playroom and one for legos (with the white side up instead of the scenery) in my older son's room. It's very sturdy and is made as well as the train table we had earlier and paid over $200 for.

[lotusdebi]

We bought a Kidkraft train table with trundle drawers when my now-7 year old was 2. We just got rid of it last year - the kids weren't using it anymore (they prefer the floor for the train tracks). It definitely held up well through a lot of abuse.

[mamadelbosque]

We had one of my dads friends build us one based off of the one by Little Colorado but with deeper drawers underneath. We *love* it. It only has train stuff ontop maybe half the time, the rest of the time its used for playdough, cars, coloring, as a coffee table, etc.

[khanni]

Thanks. I've been wondering about that Circo one. It looks like it has good storage. I was also debating about this one: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...=1&topnav=&s=1

It's about $100 than on Amazon.com, and it comes with the train. The storage isn't as good, but I suppose I could buy the trundle drawers later.

Is the Circo one wood or veneer, do you know?

[eepster]

We do trains on the floor. The tracks don't slip around as much on the carpet, and it's less limiting.

[MaxMommy]

We have the Toys R Us brand which is Imaginarium. It wasn't expensive and has stood up very well. The storage drawer is large enough for a lot of trains. It's now used mostly for Playmobil and can hold a lot of that too.

[ShadowMoon]

DS received the Imaginarium table for Christmas from his grandpa. He plays with it every day.

[StephandOwen]

My suggestion would be don't buy one. My ds is a train freak. He looooves his trains and has been obsessed with them since he was 1. I don't even want to think of how many thousands of dollars I've spend on trains in the past 5 years DS has a train table (that was built by my dad) that slides under his bed. He never uses it anymore. He much much prefers just building on the floor. At any given time he has a large set-up in the living room (of the die-cast take along thomas trains) and a large set-up in his bedroom (of the wooden thomas trains). He did enjoy playing with the train table at toys r us (before it broke) but I think that was more for the novelty of it.

[TiredX2]

Another vote for "No train table." Unless you plan to actually screw/nail/glue the pieces on the table I think they are generally limiting. When we were often building trains, our track layouts would often end up like 8'x10' and the small table would have been frustrating for everyone. Doing it on the floor also lets kids set the train up going in a circle around them. If you look at the trains set up on a table you'll notice that the tracks are often very close together which is hard for most very young children to accomplish.

[mazajo]

DH and I made a train table for DS's last bday. It only cost about $30- $35 including the paint and it was soo easy. Home Depot cuts the wood for you so the only tools you really need are hammer nails and sand paper.

Like previous posters said, this table gets used for far more than trains, and DS still plays with his trains on the floor a lot. I'm glad we have the table but I'm glad we didn't spend an arm and a leg on it because it just wouldn't be worth it.

[NicaG]

If you have an Ikea nearby....I bought a tabletop and short (coffee table height) legs at Ikea, and we use that as a multi-purpose table in our playroom. It's about 3' by 6'. The tabletops and legs are available in their "workspace" section. We use it for trains, race car tracks, general toddler play, etc. The whole setup cost about $60 and looks nice, like a real piece of furniture, and we can swap out the legs and use the tabletop as a desk or whatever when the kids are older.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/ca...kspaces/10712/

[1calmingmom]

Love This Table

Train Tables don't come cheap, by my little one loves standing while playing with toys so a table was great. I can remember when my sister was young, but older than 4 she wanted to make a larger train track and moved away from the train table to building on the floor. For a 2 year old though, I found the Imaginarium Classic Train Table to be great since it also comes with train track and accessories. My little one also likes to use the Thomas trains on this table too...incase you have Thomas Trains already.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B002ANCWF6

[laohaire]

I'm neutral about train tables. My mom got one for DD. I do think it's a bit limiting for train setups, because the really good setups are a lot bigger than the table. With ours there's only maybe 2 configurations we can really do if we use the cool pieces.

On the other hand, the table DOES get used, for trains but also other stuff. It's nice because we can set up certain things and have them off the floor and safe from being stepped on and knocked over and such. For example, we have a marble run on there right now (as well as a few other random things, like a barn set). The marble run would get knocked over all the time if it wasn't on there.

We have a Plan table. I think a big drawer is a huge plus, and ours doesn't have the biggest drawer. Also the actual tabletop for ours is unfinished wood. It looks gorgeous new but gets destroyed pretty quick with even careful kids. Ours has some crayon marks and such. We have a Melissa and Doug child's table and chairs with some coating that is terrific, everything can be easily wiped off, so I know that most tables won't have that problem. Just don't get the unfinished wood top

[akingme]

great advice, Im now rethinking getting a train table. I was actually going to get it for my son's barn and animals...to give him a big space to play and not have to be down on the floor....and then use it for trains later.....but now, after reading this, maybe i'll just use a different table for the barn/farm. wooden animals etc. Thanks!

[altoidmandy]

If your son is only two, I would definitely go with a train table rather than setting it up on the floor.  My two year old is not quite at the stage of building the set-ups himself yet, but loves to play on the tracks that his daddy sets up on the table.  I have a feeling that eventually the floor will be a better option, but I think the table is great when they are younger.  I also recommend watching craigslist; I live in a rural area and I see them all the time.  I paid $40 for mine with trains and tracks.

[ChristyMarie]

We have two train tables and my mom has one for him when he is over there.  Of the two I have, I like the Imaginarium one.  Pretty sturdy and the drawers work well.

My mom got hers at a garage sale for about $25.  Total steal!  If you can find a used one, go for it.

I like that it contains the mess.  If he has stuff on the floor it tends to get stepped on and torn apart easily.  Then it sits there because he's "not done yet" for days.  Drives me insane.  Plus, we have a dog.  On the floor = fair game in his mind.  The two tables give him a great surface to build and play on - without having it destroyed as he's running around or the dog is running around.  And it just keeps the whole room less visually cluttered.

ETA: I have the same one calmingmom posted.  The train set is a good quality set and totally cheap for the amount of stuff you get.

[NicaG]

We bought a tabletop from Ikea for around $20, then added coffee table height legs (also from Ikea) for around $40, and then we bought a square toy bin with rollers (also from Ikea) for another $10.  This setup works well for us--it's slightly larger than standard size train tables, and all of it can be repurposed when the kids are done with the train stuff.  We often take the train set apart and then use the table for other kinds of play.

[kittykat2481]

We got an espresso colored one by Kidcraft (from Costco) last Christmas. We love it! It has a huge drawer underneath that is filled with baskets of track, baskets of cars/trains/airplanes, etc. We had the train track set up on there for the better part of a year, then turned the top of the table over so it's just the dark brown (no trees, etc) and now it's a multipurpose table. His imaginarium castle lives there at the moment. We will get tons of use out of it, and the storage is a must have.