Thomas Wooden Railway - Cranky The Crane

Cranky is Crankeriffic!
My 2 year old son loves his new Cranky! He loves to load and unload freight off of all of his Thomas train cars. The crank is still a little difficult for him to turn, but he maneuvers it mostly by hand. It is sturdy and lightweight so that he can do so. He enjoys moving the freight up and down. The magnet is strong enough to grab hold of most magnetic items easily.
Just want I expected
As our experience with the other Thomas the Train stuff, Cranky is well made, durable and fun. My 2-year-old loves him. Just what I was expecting from this product.
Anything "Thomas" is a 5 star!!
We love all the "Thomas The Train" pieces. Very durable and colorful and easy for the kids to play with.
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100-Piece Orbrium Toys Triple-Loop Wooden Train Set Fits Thomas Brio Chuggington

Good buy, lacks straight pieces
Just had this delivered for my 3yr old grandson. He enjoys it but quickly wanted to change the set layout. The lack of straight pieces limited his attempts to make a complete track. Over 2/3 of the 100 pieces are things other than track. I would suggest buying the supplemental add on set first if you already have cars or, if you can, buy both sets. We will be ordering the add on set after I write this review as the overall quality is good and the price cannot be beat.
Fantastic value!
I was nervous about ordering this for Christmas, but the quality and attention to detail is outstanding. Brand name sets like this are very expensive. My four year old grandson has now played with this set for hours on end, and he loves the flexibility it gives him to build any track he can dream up. I would certainly seek out other products by this company.
Teacher
Several pieces broke during the first play session. The wood split along the grain when the children tried to disassemble the train. I should had spent the money for a name brand. I have tried to contact the company but can not find any information who the manufacture is. Do not buy.
UPDATE:
I have since been able to contact Orbrium? directly. They stand by their product and explained that some sellers occasionally purchase damaged merchandise and then resell it. They replaced the train set after I sent them pictures of the damage. The company was very helpful and I would buy their products again, just not from the same seller.
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Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Figure 8 Set Expansion Pack

Starting out with wooden railroads?
I purchased this expansion set, along with the Thomas and Friends Water Towr Figure 8 Set, for my 2 year old this past Christmas. The expansion set was an afterthought, prompted in no small part by the manufacturer's promotion running at the time (50% off this set with the purchase of a Figure 8 set).

With the conclusion of many initial hours of intense playtesting (an ongoing process, with no termination in sight), my son agrees that this is an essential choice for any but the most basic (read: boring) wooden railroad layout. This expansion pack comes with switch tracks, and allows little train engineers (and their dads) to reverse directions or explore different parts of the railway. In retrospect, I think that I would have been dissatisfied had I not purchased this set to complement the basic Figure 8 layout, promotional price or not.

As far as the quality, the Learning Curve wooden track is made from hardwood, and is more substantial than many other brands of...
Outstanding Purchase!
Most Thomas sets are constructed in such a way that require you to buy additional dual ended pieces in order to be able to connect them to other sets and this expansion set was the only thing I found that included a couple of these extra linking pieces. Not only does my 3 year old son have endless hours of fun putting the tracks together, but my husband and I also really enjoy putting them together in a variety of ways. These tracks act like a puzzle that grows with your child as he develops. Our son started learning to connect them end to end, then he began connecting them in circles and ovals, and he is beginning to experiment with layering in figure eights and using bridges. I highly recommend this set to anyone who wishes to make Thomas track building easier while enhancing their child's ability to learn through building.
A classic and terrific toy, but get it second-hand!
My grandson was obsessed with Thomas for a full three years, and he got just about every Thomas Train and accessory available. These are wonderful toys, well-made and he played with them for hours. However, when the train phase is over, it is over. You don't need to pay the rather high prices for new Thomas stuff - there must be another child who has just outgrown his and you can get it used. It will still be in terrific condtion and just as much fun to play with.
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