We got a few BRIO kits and then added on things--a lot of of other magnetic novelty trains we bought when we visited places attached to the brio trains.

Thanks, everyone. Your insights are much appreciated.

-OP

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine was into it at 2, over it now at 5. He's moved onto Legos.

This, except that mine was over it by 4 and was highly offended when my mom bought him a ginormous train table with a million accessories for Christmas. I made him keep it in his room for a year and then we donated it.

We started at 18 months and he was obsessed for 2 year, discovered legos and was completely done with trains by 5. This is pretty consistent with what I see working in pre-k/K some kids are still into them from 6-8 but I definitely wouldn't spend a ton of money at age 4. Mine never liked the table much,

Don't tell him I told you, but my 16YO still secretly loves his wooden train set (and the electric train set). The expensive lego trains got far less use (basically built and then never touched). Will not let us get rid of the wooden set, by the way, but did let us put it in the attic when he started high school. It will go to the grandkids if we ever have them.

So whether a set it has long term use will depend on the kid and what engages their minds. I will note that most of the boys in DS's advanced physics class confess to having loved their train sets (FWIW).

Anonymous wrote:I’m 43 and I still like playing with train sets.

+1

My kid got a Thomas locomotive for his second birthday and it started from there. Around age 4,5 we packed up the many, many tracks, bridges, turntables and of course engines. At age 5.25 or so, I pulled it back out, and it was like seeing an old best friend. He's back at it and now he can build the tracks himself. My 1 year old also delights in the trains rolling down bridges or seeing the one battery-operated Brio locomotive going back and forth. I think it's a great investment.

Anonymous wrote:Adding on - if they are 4 I would absolutely skip the "train table" and get lots of track they can set up on the floor. The table is very limiting in terms of the size and complexity of the track you can set up, and it's really best for a 1 or 2 year old who just wants to stand there and push trains.

+1