Not very often, but sometimes we come across toys that keep a child occupied for more than half an hour. Wooden railway from the IKEA store is certainly one of the most best toys which we bought for Lately. It's already the fourth day since she appeared at our house, but the baby never ceases to pay attention to her. Every morning we begin with the fact that we assemble a wooden railway on the floor and Marik begins to roll a toy train along it. In this article I would like to show photographs, videos of the railway, and write a short review.

In fact, the child’s fascination with locomotives and trains began long before the acquisition of a toy railroad. I recently wrote in an articleFree children's attractions available to everyonethat from time to time we go to the train station and look at real trains. This is much more interesting and educational than looking at their drawings in books or on. There we watch the trains arrive and depart, wave to the passing trains, and they sometimes honk back at us.So by the time he visited the IKEA store, Marik already knew first-hand what a train, a locomotive, a carriage and the railway itself were.

Now I want to say Nice words about the IKEA store, and more specifically, about the children's department. At first glance, it may seem that IKEA toys are rather primitive and rough. For example, the same railway.

The wooden trailers look very rough, almost clumsy. The thought immediately arises that they could be more like the real thing, as well as the cars, airplanes and other wooden toys that are sold there. But over time, it becomes clear that all these angular and awkward structures were worked on by real professionals who tend to think through everything to the smallest detail.

Turns out two year old child the external exact resemblance of a toy train to its real prototype is not so important. The main thing is that the trailers are connected into a long train and it rolls along the rails. This is exactly what we saw when we came to the IKEA store.

One of the distinctive features of this store is the presence of samples of toys that you can touch, pick up, play with, and ride. After all, it often happens that we, adults, buy a toy for a child based on our own ideas about how interesting and useful it is. Your baby may have the exact opposite opinion on this matter. So expensive designer or big beautiful car will stand in the corner collecting dust. The child won't even come near her.

At IKEA you can watch a child examining toys. If he is closely involved in a particular thing, then you can safely buy it, despite the fact that for us, parents, it may not be of any interest.

This is how we got a wooden railway. After Marik found it in the showroom, he spent 40 minutes (!) rolling the long toy train along wooden tracks. It didn't matter to him at all that he didn't look real. He was much more amused by the fact that such a long train could be rolled along rails and that all the cars obediently followed the locomotive like real ones.

Any attempt to take a child away from the railway ended in a scandal. Only after 40 minutes did he succumb to persuasion and we left the children's department, not forgetting to take two packages with us: a wooden railway and additional trailers for it.

Wooden railway IKEA. Price. Completeness

In general, the kits are different. We bought two things: a basic railway set for 499 rubles and three additional carriages for 169 rubles.

In general, the large box also contains carriages and a train, but there are few of them - only four pieces. Such a train will not look as interesting as a longer one. That's why we bought another set of three cars, but we could have bought two (or three, as many as you want).

In addition, IKEA also has just rails with arrows - 10 pieces in a set - price 399 rubles:

There is a set with a bridge and a tunnel - 12 items - price 499 rubles:

And, of course, you can buy additional carriages so that not one, but several trains can travel along your railway ( price 169 rubles):

How many sets to buy depends on your capabilities and the child’s interest. If he shows interest in such toys, you can bribe additional sets later and build a whole network of railways in the apartment:

True, this picture shows BRIO railway, but they are compatible in size with the IKEA version (I wonder who stole the idea from whom?). Moreover, at BRIO a much larger selection of accessories, different trains, carriages, etc.

In our specific case It turned out to be an ordinary basic set, which occupied the child for several days. I don’t know what will happen next, but for now this is his favorite toy:

Features of the Lillabo IKEA wooden railway

The basis of the toy is, of course, a wooden rail. Unlike a real railway, here the rails do not protrude from the track, but rather are grooves:

From what is available in the box for 499 rubles, you can build three closed lines: an absolutely round, but very short, elongated oval and a line in the shape of a figure eight:

The canvas segments are fastened quite securely using plastic locks. The interesting thing is that the segments are double-sided - that is, by turning the segment over to the other side, you get a bend in the path in the other direction. This is very thoughtful and interesting solution. Otherwise, we would have to make a certain number of “left” and the same number of “right” segments.

The trailers and locomotives themselves are terribly simple. Just pieces of wood on wheels, but there is not a single burr on them - I checked it specifically. I was very pleased with the way the cars were coupled. Each of them, including locomotives, has spherical magnets at the front and back. They are strong enough that a coupled train of 10 cars, which is pulled by the very first one, does not disengage (we haven’t tried more cars - we don’t have any more yet).

The spherical shape of the magnets ideally holds traction when cornering - the compound does not fall apart. Indeed, IKEA designers eat their own bread for a reason.

In a word, my wife and I, and especially our son - Happy Marik - are delighted with IKEA wooden railway. There really are things that are thought out to the smallest detail. I would like to say thank you to the creator of this wonderful toy and advise parents whose children are between one and a half to three years old to give them at least a basic set. And one more thing: if you are going to your friends’ child’s birthday party, buy him a wooden railway as a gift from the IKEA store. He will be very happy!

Toy railroads are integrally associated with childhood. Many of us have at a young age Once upon a time there was a plastic or iron model railroad. And those who could boast of a foreign-made model were considered lucky.

Nowadays, the hobby of toy railroads has grown into a large modeling industry. Moreover, this business is already more focused on an adult audience than on children.

To the main attributes - a track and a locomotive with trailers - trees, houses, roads, cars, and relief surroundings were added. And a table with a full-fledged model of a railway, with many details and little things, is already real art.

Abroad, similar products cost from 2 thousand dollars, but in this article I will tell you how to make a full-fledged model of a toy railroad with your own hands.

Table

You will need space for the layout. Ideally, this should be a separate table, but you can get by with a small table, or simply a fenced-off area on any suitable surface. It all depends on your desire and scope. I recommend starting with a small place - for example, part of a table, and then, if you are inspired, make a larger layout. It’s better to start small than to immediately take on a large amount of work and quit halfway.

Starter set

The thing without which it will not be possible to make a model railway is the railway itself. Or rather, a set of rails, a train and a power system for it. Here, alas, there are no alternatives - everything needs to be bought. It’s good that these days there is so much to choose from on the market.

Sketch

To know where you are heading, you need to have a goal in front of your eyes. Make a rough sketch on paper - where everything should be and what it will be like general form your layout. Browse the Internet, look at numerous railroad models and take note of what you like - bridges, crossings, houses, stations. You can make a model of a stop station in the Wild West, or you can make a model of a station in the center of a modern city. But be sure to decide before you get to work. And make markings on the table so that you don’t suddenly discover that the track goes beyond the boundaries of the table, or that the barrier will cling to a passing train.

Mountains

The presence of a mountain with a tunnel through which the train will pass will decorate the layout. To create a small mountain you will need polyurethane foam, plywood, a knife, alabaster and sandpaper.

First, think over and, if possible, draw a sketch of the future mountain. Then knock down a small box of plywood or other suitable material over the rails. Make sure that the size of the box will allow your train to pass freely through the tunnel. Then start applying foam around the box, with pauses of one and a half to two hours, to allow the layers to dry and not sag under their own weight. After you apply the required volume of foam, leave it to dry for at least a day.

After a day, pick up a knife (a stationery knife is more convenient) and start picking at the mountain - cut off the excess pieces, giving it the shape you intended. Cut out hollows, crevices, try to make it as natural as possible.

Next you will need alabaster. Dilute it with water and cover the entire mountain with a thin layer of up to 3 mm. It dries quickly, so use small amounts of it. Then wait again for several hours until everything hardens - it is better not to use a hairdryer.

Now we need to paint over the mountain gray. To do this, buy a can of primer at any auto store, matching the color of the gray stone, and you can paint your mountain. Just test the paint on something else first to make sure it's the right color for you.

Next, use sandpaper and rub the mountain in places to remove layers of primer here and there. This will make the mountain more naturalistic, so that it is not a uniform color, but a shade from light to dark gray. You can repeat painting and sanding several times until you get something you're happy with. You can also paint individual pieces of the mountain white or black to make it more realistic.

Finally, take green paint and tint the pieces of the mountain also in the color of green - this way it will be even more naturalistic. Only the paint should be a believable, “moss” color.

Your mountain (or slide) is ready. Congratulations, you've already done quite a bit of work. Next in line are the remaining details of the relief.

Here it all depends on your imagination, the size of the free space and the suitable details that you have. Fill an empty table surface - for example, with fake grass, which is sold in stores. Toy houses, figures of people, transport, a railway crossing, a train station with a station, a bridge, trees - these are all the details that will decorate your layout. Many of them can be found in Lego sets, or simply individually in toy stores. Companies that sell products for railway modeling also sell excellent kits, but in this case, be prepared to spend a lot of money.

You can make a layout at big table, with many details, relief terrain, electric running and a real town in miniature. But you can also make a small model - a battery-powered train, with a small piece of landscape and a few decorative elements.

Whatever option you choose, the model you make will decorate any home and will be of interest to any company - both children and adults.

For some time I have been analyzing all children's railways for the ages of approximately 2-10 years. I simply collected great amount information on almost all children's railways that can only be purchased on given time in Russia or on the Internet. I have collected all the material into a single review article, which I present to your attention. Read, choose exactly what suits your child. I hope this material will be useful to many parents!
If you have any questions about the roads, don’t hesitate to ask them! And be sure to write reviews about your roads - it will be interesting to read :))

Children's railways - everything about them.

Children's railways have been one of the most popular children's games for many years. There are quite a few on the market a large number of model railways and it is often difficult for parents to choose the right one. We hope this review can help you navigate this diversity and choose exactly the road that suits you best. the best way suitable for a child.

When choosing a road, you should pay attention to the following points:
- the quality of the roads - are the rails easily connected to each other, is it possible to build complex circuits, are trains not falling, the quality of the rails themselves, trains, additional buildings;
- the possibility of “growth” of the road - having bought one set of any company once, after some time you will definitely want to expand the capabilities of the road itself, make it more interesting and as close as possible to real life, perhaps - get new trains.
- safety of road use - no small elements for children, strong fastenings small parts on trains, etc.

It is also worth noting that parents often try to choose a route with self-propelled trains, but this is not very important for the children themselves, especially in at a young age. From about 2 to 4 years old, children want to ride trains THEMSELVES, they are not satisfied that the train travels on its own, this is due to the psychology of children at this age. They like to drive the train themselves, to move it with their own hands, so even sometimes children argue because they cannot move the train themselves - there are roads where the train cannot move with the motor turned off. Therefore, the presence of self-propelled trains on the road is important condition, but not required for young children. But when the child has already grown up, it becomes interesting for him to watch the movement of the train, somehow control this movement using the remote control; here the presence of self-propelled trains is important. But this should not exclude the possibility of moving the train yourself, because children still play longer if their play is not limited by any technical “bells and whistles.”

The author of this review had the opportunity to “play” live all the railways listed below, thereby truly assessing their quality and professional suitability.

- Lego (Denmark)
- Wooden railways
- Do City (Fenbo, Hong Kong)
- TOMY (Japan)
- Chagginton (USA)
- Blue Arrow, Continental Express, Journey into a Fairy Tale, etc. (China)
- Baby (Bauer, Russia)
- Tolo Toys (Hong Kong), Wader (Germany), Little Tikes (USA), Simba (Germany), etc.
- Railways of the Ogonyok plant (Russia)

Lego (Denmark)

Lego has two types of roads -LegoDuploAndLegoCity.

Road Lego Duplo- for children from 2 years old. The rails are large, the track is wide, the joining of the rails is very simple and strong, even a 2-year-old child can do it. The roads of this company are of very high quality; a moving train does not get stuck anywhere. At the same time, it is possible to simply roll the train by hand. Trains can be completely disassembled down to the base platform and assemble something of your own on this platform with wheels. In addition to the road itself, the sets include a belt loader, a crane, a gas station, and little men. The pieces fit together with all other Lego Duplo bricks, so you can easily imagine life around the city on the road. The manufacturer positions it as a toy for children up to about 6 years old. After 6 years, Lego now has another railway - City. The City road rails do not mate with the Duplo rails. This is a completely different road, with its own buildings, trains, etc. City already has a lot of small details that are unacceptable for kids. Of course, on the City road there are much more opportunities to build some of your own buildings, but this is all from the age of 6, you need to pay attention to the age limit. But everything is relative, children of 4 years old can also play the City road, but they are unlikely to be able to join the rails themselves.

Lego City, Brick, Sluban, BanBao(here we also include the roads of Lego analogue companies, their rails or trains are connected to Lego rails). In this segment of roads, you need to know the features of these analogue companies. Due to the high cost of Lego, you can make a road from Brick rails. They match Lego perfectly, except that the color is different - Brick's are brown, while Lego's are gray. But, nevertheless, to diversify the road surface, you can absolutely safely buy rails from both Lego and Brick. The rails are fastened to each other tightly and firmly, a 4-year-old child cannot join them or will have difficulty joining them, which is why the manufacturer writes the recommended age - 6 years. But this will not stop a 4-year-old child from simply rolling trains along the rails, beating various situations.

Self-propelled trains Brick no, there are only different special cars. The Lego City train is controlled by a special remote control and has 7 speeds. The value of Lego trains is that any train can be disassembled to its very foundation, all buildings can also be disassembled and assembled at the child’s request, and there are places on the trains for little people.

At the designer's Slubanthe rails do not fit the Lego City tracks, but the trains themselves can be rolled - the Lego City track is suitable for them. This designer has interesting trains, with good detail. But their rails have a very poor type of joining, which causes frequent breakdowns of the joining point itself. However, the trains and additional buildings are worth a look.

Constructor BanBao also fits in with Lego City according to some sources, but it has been poorly studied by the author. If anyone has information about it, please share it in the comments to the article, we will be glad to receive useful information!

To summarize, we can say - of course, the original Lego Duplo and City roads are of high quality, well made and have high play capabilities, but they have one, but nevertheless significant drawback - especially for Duplo roads - VERY few additional elements are sold in Russia To basic sets. In general, Duplo roads in Russia do not have bridges, separate rails or forks - everything will have to be looked for on the foreign Internet. Well, one more disadvantage that still has to be mentioned is their expensive price, good set with trains, switches and other buildings it will cost more than 10 thousand rubles.

Wooden railways

This type of road was approved by the psychological and pedagogical examination of the Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University in 2010. One of the most diverse and multi-story roads. The most valuable and important thing about them is that it is produced not by one manufacturer, but by many - and they all fit together. We list the main manufacturers of wooden railways:

Brio (Sweden)

Ikea (Sweden)

Woody (Czech Republic)

PlanToys (Thailand)

Biltema (Finland)

Bino (Germany)

Eichhorn (Germany)

ELC (Early Learning Center - Center early development, Great Britain)

Learning curve (a division of Tomy in America)

The age at which it is recommended to play these roads is from 2 to 10 years. Even at one and a half years old, a child can already assemble a small road on his own, which is not unimportant - in most other roads, parents do this for him, and the child can only roll the trains, or watch their movement. This is a very big plus; the child himself can imagine what he wants his path to look like today.

All wooden elements of these roads are absolutely safe for children (there are no sharp chips, splinters, or nicks). The roads of the Brio company are of the highest quality, but their price is correspondingly higher. According to history, the Swedish company Brio was the first to produce such roads; all other manufacturers are either under their license or their subsidiaries. Therefore, the assortment often overlaps, but each manufacturer can find something special to diversify the road surface.

The road has a wonderful quality - it can “grow” with the child. If a small set of rails and a couple of trains with trailers are enough for a two-year project, then later you can buy additional bridges, cranes, and special-purpose trains. In addition, the game can be diversified with additional buildings for a role-playing game - it could be a train station with a real mini-elevator, a depot, a metro station, just a passenger platform, or even an airport - and all this will be connected to train rails. When the child is not so clumsy, you can already buy special stands with which the child will make multi-story roads - there is no limit to perfection. Although, according to the observations of the author of the review, cubes of suitable height can act as stands. But still, to build a strong and tall structure, it is better to purchase special racks; the building will be more stable.

The trains are attached to each other with magnets, and some Brio trains have a special magnet attached to the train itself - it is not dead attached to the platform, but on a hinge, this ensures better grip of the cars on turns and their non-disconnection. You can “magnetize” as many cars as you like to one large tractor car. There are both self-propelled locomotives and ordinary carriages: crane cars, passenger cars, and freight cars. It should be noted that wooden carriages are durable, but many of them do not have precise detailing of small elements; often, a drawing is simply applied to a rectangle. It all depends on what age you want to buy such a road. For kids this will be a plus, because for them excessive detail is probably even a minus, but for older children you can buy more interesting trains.

The Learning curve company (Tomy in America) produces special trains for wooden roads from the animated series “Thomas and His Friends” - all of them are well made, some with lights and sounds. By for unknown reasons They are not sold in Russia, there are only cheap, low-quality Chinese analogues, but they are not of particular interest for the review.

Brio has an interesting locomotive, controlled from a remote control - with sound and light, there is a locomotive with a special removable battery - you can buy two batteries: one for running the train, the other for recharging. All cranes are equipped with magnets - they can be used to lift or lower loads into cars, and the loads also have magnets inserted into them.

Due to the excellent quality of workmanship and wooden components, the road can be absolutely passed down by inheritance, providing joy to more than one generation of children in the family.

Some features of roads from different manufacturers: only their own locomotives pass under the Ikea bridge, Brio locomotives lack about 1 cm in height, Ikea rails are not the best in quality, and due to the fact that they have a plastic pin Slightly shorter than the standard Brio socket, they don't always mate well with the Brio and Woody rails. Woody has a good range of additional buildings, the rails themselves and forks, but the range of rolling stock is poor - for its variety you can safely buy Brio trains.

Do City ( Fenbo , Hong Kong)

It’s a good railway, bright, reliable, the rail joints are rigid and tight. A 2-year-old child cannot do the docking. By the age of 3-4, a child will be able to build a canvas from rails himself. There are no additional buildings on the road; everything you need can be purchased immediately in one set. The packaging box contains all kinds of assembly diagrams (there are 9 of them in a large set). The trains are not very diverse, you can’t put anything in them and transport them, the train can move itself, and the trains are connected using rings with slots. It is possible to lay rails along the second floor - on special stands. Overall, this is a solid 4 out of 5 road. It is a pity that there are no bridges or other buildings connected to it, such as a train station, depot, cranes, and that there is no possibility of transporting goods in wagons. The sets include fences, figures of people, animals, and lanterns. To expand its capabilities, you can only purchase additional similar sets, which will make the road surface itself larger.

Price range 800-2500 rub.

An interesting and quite important note: the gauge of the roads Fenbo and wooden roads coincide, which allows you to roll trains made from wooden sets (such as Ikea ), in addition, the trains from the Tomy “Thomas and His Friends” sets are also perfect for this track, the coupling of the cars is also the same - with rings with slots.

TOMY (Japan)

From Takara TOMY (Japan) there are two types of railways - the Thomas and Friends railway and the Tomica railway." These are two completely different roads; without a special adapter, their rails cannot be connected. Not all sets are equipped with adapters. The “Thomas and His Friends” roads in the new version of the TrackMaster series have double rail fastening, the color of the rails is gray-brown; roads " Tomica » HyperCity series - one mount, blue rail color. "Thomas and Friends" is intended for younger children, and "Tomica" - for older children, from about 4 or 5 years old. Although, of course, the age division is relative. If parents try to diversify the “Thomas and His Friends” road, then it will also delight the child, who is both 5 and 7 years old, for a long time.

So, let's take a closer look at each of the roads.

"Thomas and His Friends"

These railways are made exclusively based on the famous animated series "Thomas and His Friends", i.e. all locomotives and all trains are made with faces and names from this children's series. The cartoon itself takes place on the Island of Sodor, there are many roads and trains on it that run along these roads for some tasks, their needs. Accordingly, the road itself follows the plot of the cartoon.

The workmanship of the parts is good, the rails fit together exactly, the trains do not get stuck or fall, and they are very easy to put on the rails.

The rails rise slightly above the floor, they are made as if on a mound of stones. The speed of the trains is good, they pull even two or three cars behind them remarkably well, the connections between the cars are very strong - a ring with a slot - it is very difficult for children under 4 years old to uncouple or couple the cars themselves. When the power is turned off, the motor is disconnected from the wheel axle, which allows the child to roll the trains. Now they even started releasing trains with smoke coming from the chimney. The roads are designed for ages from about 3 years old; connecting the rails will be a bit difficult for a child himself, but at 4 years old he will certainly master it.

In addition to rails and trains, there are also many additional buildings on this road - road crossings, stations, bridges, etc. Everything is made of high-quality (not thin) plastic.

Of the minuses - everything additional is not very common in Russia, they are mostly sold ready-made kits with a specific topic - for example, winter's tale, loading coal, from a depot, with an airplane, etc. All particularly interested persons need to turn to the foreign Internet - Europe, America, and best of all - Japan, because... the company itself is Japanese and has maximum representation there a large assortment these roads. Almost nothing is sold separately, only rails with forks and trains. Well, one more thing is that if your child is not particularly keen on the animated series “Thomas and His Friends” and the Island of Sodor, then, most likely, this road will not be particularly interested in him - here you need to watch it according to the child. Although, of course, the author of the review, in his long experience of communicating with children, has not met any boys who did not like this cartoon)))

Price range 600 - 3000 rub.

Tomica

The manufacturer declares age - from 4 years. The rails fit together well and firmly, but very young children are unlikely to be able to connect them themselves. Although, of course, many children are not upset by this turn of events - they are enthusiastically waiting for their parents to collect everything for them and they will finally put their train on the road. The train looks realistic and runs quite fast. You can purchase various buildings, a highway, which is one of the components of the railway. You can even buy special cars for the road, although, of course, you can use ordinary ones, which any child has.

The road and buildings leading to it can be found in many shops in the city and online stores. In general, the entire road is designed for the construction of not only one road, but for the construction of the city of Tomy HyperCity - with train stations, highways, tunnels, houses, etc.

Previously, this type of rail was used by the company for roads with Thomas, now a special adapter is needed to connect gray-brown Thomas rails and blue Tomiki rails, as mentioned above - adapters are not available in all sets.

The downside is that you can’t put or transport anything on the trains - they only serve as a “wind-up toy.”

Price range 700 - 5000 rub.

Chagginton (USA)

This road is based on the plot of the recently very popular animated series “Chugginton Engines”. The trains have a very specific look, unique to this cartoon.

The design of the rails itself is not particularly realistic - there are no sleepers or rails here - the road resembles more an ordinary road than a rail bed. Nevertheless, this is a full-fledged railway. The quality of the rails is good, they are firmly attached to each other. There are few additional railway buildings; there are no urban ones at all.

The locomotives themselves are bright, colorful, and made of very high quality, but there is no way to transport people or cargo.

In general, the road is not bad, but unless, of course, the child is “sick” of this cartoon. Otherwise, it is still better to purchase some kind of neutral road, so that it does not turn out that the child’s interest in the cartoon has cooled down, and the road will have to be completely changed to another.

Price range 400 - 3000 rub.

Blue Arrow, Continental Express, Journey into a Fairy Tale, etc. (China)

Here we will touch a little on the recently very common sets of railways from various Chinese companies, so to speak - not branded ones. The names of the roads may be different - “Journey to a Fairy Tale”, “Blue Arrow”, etc. The appearance of such roads is a huge transparent box, a train with cars and a set of rails for building a circle or figure eight.

These roads have one thing in common - very poor quality execution of the rails and specifically the docking mechanism. If they are constantly connected and disconnected, the lock mechanism can quickly break. It’s good to assemble these roads once and admire them. It is generally not advisable for children under 3 years old to play with them, because the excessive detailing of the trains makes itself felt - parts constantly fall off. The rail itself is narrow, the wheels of the trains are also narrow and small, so it is difficult for a child to connect the train and the rails, which can frustrate little railway workers. On turns, trains can either derail or become uncoupled - in different ways in different sets, but The general trend exactly like that.

For these roads it is definitely worth discussing the age limit - at least from 4 years old, not earlier.

Price range 500 - 1500 rub.

Railway Krokha ( Bauer , Russia)

Railways are produced under this brand under license from the German company Bauer. As usually happens, Russian products are inferior in quality to German originals - either the license is not the same, or the Germans have not discovered the most main secret high-quality road, or ours have already mastered something. As a result, the idea is good, but its execution is lame. Very often, sets are missing some parts, stickers, figures, etc. It is not clear what this is connected with, but before purchasing, carefully check the contents in the package.

The rail joining mechanism is reliable and complex, but, in principle, it is realistic for a 3-4 year old to master it. The track is wide and comfortable, the locomotives are very easy to install. There are reviews from parents that during long-term use, the assembled railway track seems to warp, but the ride quality of the locomotives does not change - they also run well on the rails. The only weak point on the road is when the rails are uncoupled; a child can break the fasteners and you need to be careful here. You can disassemble it yourself as an adult or teach your child to follow the instructions for disassembling the road exactly.

The trailers can carry passengers or any cargo. It is possible to build various additional buildings from cubes. The bricks in the road sets are compatible with the regular brick sets sold under the same brand. They can be used to build houses, bridges and other related structures around the road. The plastic of the cubes and trains is not very thick, but quite durable.

In addition to railways, this company also has roads; rails from railways and roads are connected to each other.

In general, the brand of roads is not bad, it has great variability for role-playing games, which is especially important for children under 5-6 years old, it can easily be purchased in stores or you can buy some other sets to diversify the game.

Price range 300 - 1000 rub.

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The world's most detailed story about children's railways (including wooden ones) from railway fan and mega-expert Elena Sokolova. Manufacturers, prices, features and highlights - after reading this review, you will know everything about railways!

[Children's railways have been one of the most popular children's games for many years. There are quite a large number of model railways on the market and it is often difficult for parents to choose the right one. We hope this review can help you navigate this diversity and choose exactly the path that best suits your child. When choosing a road you should note for the following points: - quality of roads– do the rails fit together easily, is it possible to build complex circuits, do trains not fall, the quality of the rails themselves, trains, and additional buildings; - opportunity for "growth" roads - having bought one set of any company once, after some time you will definitely want to expand the capabilities of the canvas itself, make it more interesting and as close as possible to real life, perhaps - acquire new trains. - road safety– absence of small elements for children, strength of fastenings of small parts on trains, etc. It is also worth noting that parents often try to choose a route with self-propelled trains, but this is not very important for the children themselves, especially at a young age. From about 2 to 4 years old, children want to ride trains THEMSELVES, they are not satisfied that the train travels on its own, this is due to the psychology of children at this age. They like to drive the train themselves, to move it with their own hands, so even sometimes children argue because they cannot move the train themselves - there are roads where the train cannot move with the motor turned off. Therefore, the presence of self-propelled trains on the road is an important condition, but not mandatory for young children. But when the child has already grown up, it becomes interesting for him to watch the movement of the train, somehow control this movement using the remote control; here the presence of self-propelled trains is important. But this should not exclude the possibility of moving the train yourself, because children still play longer if their play is not limited by any technical “bells and whistles.” The author of this review had the opportunity to “play” live all the railways listed below, thereby truly assessing their quality and professional suitability. In each section we will give several photographs characteristic of a given company, one of them is a photo of the packaging, for clarity. We would like to note that in addition to the railways present in the review, there are many others that were not included in it. They are either completely for the smallest children, or simply are not of particular interest for reasons of low quality - bad rails, poor joining of rails to each other, low-quality trailers, lack of additional buildings, etc. Also, this review did not include “serious” model railways, for example from companies such as Piko and Mehano. They are designed for ages from approximately 8-10 years and above - these are collectible versions of the road with a high degree of realistic elements. We wish all readers a useful acquaintance with the review and good choice(and, perhaps, purchases) of such a railway that will delight not only the child, but also his parents, making joint leisure and home games fun, interesting and educational. Also, we will be pleased to hear readers’ opinions about the roads presented in the article, or about other roads that were not included in the review: share your comments!

Online store "Merry pieces of wood"

Lego(Denmark) Lego has two types of roads - and Lego City. The road is for children from 2 years old. The rails are large, the track is wide, the joining of the rails is very simple and strong, even a 2-year-old child can do it.
The roads of this company are of very high quality; a moving train does not get stuck anywhere. At the same time, it is possible to simply roll the train by hand. Trains can be completely disassembled down to the base platform and assemble something of your own on this platform with wheels. In addition to the road itself, the sets include a belt loader, a crane, a gas station, and little men. The pieces fit together with all other Lego Duplo bricks, so you can easily imagine life around the city on the road. The manufacturer positions it as a toy for children up to about 6 years old.
Lego City
After 6 years, Lego already has another railway - City. The City road rails do not mate with the Duplo rails. This is a completely different road, with its own buildings, trains, etc. City already has a lot of small details that are unacceptable for kids. Of course, on the City road there are much more opportunities to build some of your own buildings, but this is all from the age of 6, you need to pay attention to the age limit. But everything is relative, children of 4 years old can also play the City road, but they are unlikely to be able to join the rails themselves. LegoCity,Brick,Sluban,BanBao(here we also include the roads of Lego analogue companies, their rails or trains are connected to Lego rails). In this segment of roads, you need to know the features of these analogue companies. Due to the high cost of Lego, you can make a road from Brick rails. They match Lego perfectly, except that the color is different - Brick's are brown, while Lego's are gray. But, nevertheless, to diversify the road surface, you can absolutely safely buy rails from both Lego and Brick. The rails are fastened to each other tightly and firmly, a 4-year-old child cannot join them or will have difficulty joining them, which is why the manufacturer writes the recommended age - 6 years. But this will not stop a 4-year-old child from simply rolling trains along the rails, playing out various situations. Brick does not have self-propelled trains, only different special cars. The Lego City train is controlled by a special remote control and has 7 speeds. The value of Lego trains is that any train can be disassembled to its very foundation, all buildings can also be disassembled and assembled at the child’s request, and there are places on the trains for little people. At the designer's Sluban the rails do not fit the Lego City rails, but the trains themselves can be rolled - the Lego City track is suitable for them. This designer has interesting trains, with good detail. But their rails have a very poor type of joining, which causes frequent breakdowns of the joining point itself. However, the trains and additional buildings are worth a look. Constructor BanBao also fits in with Lego City according to some sources, but it has been poorly studied by the author. If anyone has information about it, please share it in the comments to the article, we will be glad to receive useful information! To summarize, we can say - of course, the original Lego Duplo and City roads are of high quality, well made and have high play capabilities, but they have one, but nevertheless significant drawback - especially for Duplo roads - VERY few additional elements are sold in Russia to basic sets. In general, Duplo roads in Russia do not have bridges, separate rails or forks - everything will have to be looked for on the foreign Internet. Well, one more disadvantage that still has to be mentioned is their expensive price; a good set with trains, switches and other buildings will cost more than 10 thousand rubles.

Wooden railways
This type of road was approved by the psychological and pedagogical examination of the Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University in 2010. One of the most diverse and multi-story roads. The most valuable and important thing about them is that it is produced not by one manufacturer, but by many – and they all fit together. Let's list major wooden railway manufacturers: Brio(Sweden), Ikea(Sweden), Woody(Czech Republic), PlanToys(Thailand), Biltema(Finland), Bino(Germany), Eichhorn(Germany), ELC(Early Learning Centre, UK), learning curve(a division of Tomy in America) The age at which it is recommended to play these roads is from 2 to 10 years. Even at one and a half years old, a child can already assemble a small road on his own, which is not unimportant - in most other roads, parents do this for him, and the child can only roll the trains or watch their movement. This is a very big plus; the child himself can imagine what he wants his path to look like today. All the wooden elements of these roads absolutely safe for a child (no sharp chips, splinters, or nicks). The roads of the Brio company are of the highest quality, but their price is correspondingly higher. According to history, the Swedish company Brio was the first to produce such roads; all other manufacturers are either under their license or their subsidiaries. Therefore, the assortment often overlaps, but each manufacturer can find something special to diversify the road surface. The road has a remarkable quality - it can “grow” with the child. If a small set of rails and a couple of trains with trailers are enough for a two-year project, then later you can buy additional bridges, cranes, and special-purpose trains. In addition, the game can be diversified with additional buildings for a role-playing game - it could be a train station with a real mini-elevator, a depot, a metro station, just a passenger platform, or even an airport - and all this will be connected to train rails. When the child is not so clumsy, you can already buy special stands with which the child will make multi-story roads - there is no limit to perfection. Although, according to the observations of the author of the review, cubes of suitable height can act as stands. But still, to build a strong and tall structure, it is better to purchase special racks; the building will be more stable. The trains are attached to each other with magnets, and some Brio trains have a special magnet mount to the train itself - it is not dead attached to the platform, but on a hinge, this ensures better grip of the cars on turns and their non-disconnection. You can “magnetize” as many cars as you like to one large tractor car. There are both self-propelled locomotives and ordinary carriages: crane cars, passenger cars, and freight cars. It should be noted that wooden carriages are durable, but many of them do not have precise detailing of small elements; often, a drawing is simply applied to a rectangle. It all depends on what age you want to buy such a road. For kids this will be a plus, because for them excessive detail is probably even a minus, but for older children you can buy more interesting trains. Firm learning curve(Tomy in America) produces special trains for wooden roads from the animated series "Thomas and His Friends" - all of them are well made, some with lights and sounds. For unknown reasons, they are not sold in Russia; only cheap, low-quality Chinese analogues are found, but they are not of particular interest for the review. U Brio there is an interesting locomotive controlled from a remote control - with sound and light, there is a locomotive with a special removable battery - you can buy two batteries: one for running the train, the other for recharging. All cranes are equipped with magnets - they can be used to lift or lower loads into cars, and the loads also have magnets inserted into them. Due to the excellent quality of workmanship and wooden components, the road can be absolutely passed down by inheritance, providing joy to more than one generation of children in the family. Some features of roads from different manufacturers: Only their own locomotives pass under the Ikea bridge, Brio locomotives are about 1 cm short in height, Ikea rails are not the best quality, and due to the fact that they have a plastic pin slightly shorter than the standard Brio socket, they are not always fits well with Brio and Woody rails. Woody has a good range of additional buildings, the rails themselves and forks, but the range of rolling stock is poor - for its variety you can safely buy Brio trains. Price range: average price one ready-made set with rails, train and buildings 2,500 - 3,000 rubles.

Do City(Fenbo, Hong Kong)

It’s a good railway, bright, reliable, the rail joints are rigid and tight. A 2-year-old child cannot do the docking. By the age of 3-4, a child will be able to build a canvas from rails himself. There are no additional buildings on the road; everything you need can be purchased immediately in one set. The packaging box contains all kinds of assembly diagrams (there are 9 of them in a large set). The trains are not very diverse, you can’t put anything in them and transport them, the train can move itself, and the trains are connected using rings with slots. It is possible to lay rails along the second floor - on special stands. Overall, this is a solid 4 out of 5 road. It is a pity that there are no bridges or other buildings connected to it, such as a train station, depot, cranes, and that there is no possibility of transporting goods in wagons. The sets include fences, figures of people, animals, and lanterns. To expand its capabilities, you can only buy additional sets like this, which will make the road surface itself larger.

Interesting and important note: The track width of the Fenbo roads and wooden roads coincides, which allows you to roll trains made from wooden sets (like Ikea) along these roads; in addition, the trains from the Tomy “Thomas and His Friends” sets are also perfect for this track, the coupling of the cars is also the same - rings with slots. Price range: 800-2500 rub.

TOMY(Japan) Takara TOMY (Japan) has two types of railways - the Thomas and Friends railway and the Tomica railway. These are two completely different roads; without a special adapter, their rails cannot be connected. Not all sets are equipped with adapters. The “Thomas and His Friends” roads in the new version of the TrackMaster series have double rail fastening, the color of the rails is gray-brown; “Tomica” roads of the HyperCity series – one mount, blue rail color. "Thomas and Friends" is intended for younger children, and "Tomica" is for older children, from about 4 or 5 years old. Although, of course, the age division is relative. If parents try to diversify the “Thomas and His Friends” road, then it will also delight the child, who is both 5 and 7 years old, for a long time. So, let's take a closer look at each of the roads. "Thomas and His Friends"
These railways are made exclusively based on the famous animated series "Thomas and His Friends", i.e. All locomotives and all trains are made with faces and names from this children's series. The cartoon itself takes place on the Island of Sodor, there are many roads and trains on it that run along these roads for some tasks, their needs. Accordingly, the road itself follows the plot of the cartoon. The workmanship of the parts is good, the rails fit together exactly, the trains do not get stuck or fall, and they are very easy to put on the rails. The rails rise slightly above the floor, they are made as if on a mound of stones. The speed of the trains is good, they pull even two or three cars behind them perfectly, the connections between the cars are very strong - a ring with a slot - it is very difficult for children under 4 years old to uncouple or couple the cars themselves. When the power is turned off, the motor is disconnected from the wheel axle, which allows the child to roll the trains. Now they even started releasing trains with smoke coming from the chimney. The roads are designed for ages from about 3 years old; connecting the rails will be a bit difficult for a child himself, but at 4 years old he will certainly master it. In addition to rails and trains, also on this road many additional buildings– road crossings, train stations, bridges, etc. Everything is made of high-quality (not thin) plastic. Of the minuses– everything additional is not very common in Russia, mostly ready-made sets with a specific theme are sold - for example, a winter fairy tale, loading coal, with a depot, with an airplane, etc. All particularly interested parties should turn to the foreign Internet - Europe, America, and best of all - Japan, because... The company itself is Japanese and the largest range of these roads is presented there. Almost nothing is sold separately, only rails with forks and trains. Well, one more thing is that if your child is not particularly keen on the animated series “Thomas and His Friends” and the Island of Sodor, then, most likely, this road will not be particularly interested in him - here you need to watch it according to the child. Although, of course, the author of the review, in his long experience of communicating with children, has not met any boys who did not like this cartoon))) Price range: 600 – 3000 rub.
Tomica
The manufacturer states the age is from 4 years. The rails fit together well and firmly, but very young children are unlikely to be able to connect them themselves. Although, of course, many children are not upset by this turn of events - they are enthusiastically waiting for their parents to collect everything for them and they will finally put their train on the road. The train looks realistic and runs quite fast. You can purchase various buildings, a highway, which is one of the components of the railway. You can even buy special cars for the road, although, of course, you can use ordinary ones, which any child has. The road and buildings leading to it can be found in many shops in the city and online stores. In general, the entire road is designed for the construction of not only one road, but construction of the city Tomy HyperCity - with train stations, roads, tunnels, houses, etc. Previously, this type of rail was used by the company for roads with Thomas, now a special adapter is needed to connect gray-brown Thomas rails and blue Tomiki rails, as mentioned above - adapters are not available in all sets. Of the minuses– you cannot put or transport anything on the trains – they only serve as a “wind-up toy”. Price range: 700 – 5000 rub.

(USA)
This road is based on the plot of the recently very popular animated series “Chugginton Engines”. The trains have a very specific look, unique to this cartoon. The design of the rails itself is not particularly realistic - there are no sleepers or rails here - the road resembles more an ordinary road than a rail bed. Nevertheless, this is a full-fledged railway. The quality of the rails is good, they are firmly attached to each other. There are few additional railway buildings; there are no urban ones at all. The locomotives themselves are bright, colorful, and made of very high quality, but there is no way to transport people or cargo. In general, the road is not bad, but unless, of course, the child is “sick” of this cartoon. Otherwise, it is still better to purchase some kind of neutral road, so that it does not turn out that the child’s interest in the cartoon has cooled down, and the road will have to be completely changed to another. Price range: 400 – 3000 rub.

Etc. (China)
Here we will touch a little on the recently very common sets of railways from various Chinese companies, so to speak - not branded ones. The names of the roads can be different - “Journey to a Fairy Tale”, “Blue Arrow”, etc. The appearance of such roads is a huge transparent box, a train with cars and a set of rails for building a circle or figure eight. These roads have one thing in common - the very poor quality of the rails and the connecting mechanism. If they are constantly connected and disconnected, the lock mechanism can quickly break. It’s good to assemble these roads once and admire them. It is generally not advisable for children under 3 years old to play with them, because the excessive detailing of the trains makes itself felt - parts constantly fall off. The rail itself is narrow, the wheels of the trains are also narrow and small, so it is difficult for a child to connect the train and the rails, which can frustrate little railway workers. When turning, trains can either go off the rails or become uncoupled - in different ways in different sets, but this is the general tendency. For these roads it is definitely worth discussing the age limit - at least from 4 years old, not earlier. Price range: 500 – 1500 rub.

(Bauer, Russia) Railways are produced under this brand Licensed by the German company Bauer. As usually happens, Russian products are inferior in quality to German originals - either the license is not the same, or the Germans have not discovered the most important secret of a high-quality road, or ours have already mastered something. As a result, the idea is good, but its execution is lame. Very often, sets are missing some parts, stickers, figures, etc. It is not clear what this is connected with, but before purchasing, carefully check the contents in the package. The rail joining mechanism is reliable and complex, but, in principle, it is realistic for a 3-4 year old to master it. The track is wide and comfortable, the locomotives are very easy to install. There are reviews from parents that during long-term use, the assembled railway track seems to warp, but the ride quality of the locomotives does not change - they also run well on the rails. The only weak point on the road is when the rails are uncoupled; a child can break the fasteners and you need to be careful here. You can disassemble it yourself as an adult or teach your child to follow the instructions for disassembling the road exactly. The trailers can carry passengers or any cargo. There is a possibility of construction various additional buildings made from cubes. The bricks in the road sets are compatible with the regular brick sets sold under the same brand. They can be used to build houses, bridges and other related structures around the road. The plastic of the cubes and trains is not very thick, but quite durable. In addition to railways, this company also has roads; rails from railways and roads are connected to each other. In general, the brand of roads is not bad, it has great variability for role-playing games, which is especially important for children under 5-6 years old, it can easily be purchased in stores or you can buy some other sets to diversify the game. Price range: 300 – 1000 rub.

Tolo Toys(Hong Kong), Wader(Germany), Little Tikes(USA), Simba(Germany), etc.
Each of these companies has its own roads for children - from about 1.6 to 3 years old, so we will not dwell on each of them separately. Somewhere it’s just a circle with a train, somewhere you can build a figure eight. Despite the fact that the roads are for very young children, they are not disadvantaged by this - the production of all elements is of very high quality, adapted for very young children. I would like to stop at one of the companies - Tolo Toys, the road is called “Train of First Friends”. Age category, declared by the manufacturer 1 - 5 years. At this age, this road will be 200% worth it. The difference between this company's road and others is that it are issued additional elements – arrow, rounded and straight rails. The rails are strong, large, wide gauge, and fit together perfectly. The trains and carriages are made with high quality, the train can move on its own and can be rolled around when the engine is turned off. Various passenger figures are also included for little ones. The road is very easy to use - that's what makes it great. Of the minuses– requires a lot of space to assemble and is very difficult to find in stores. For those interested, go ahead to the Internet, here you will find everything! The Wader track is also interesting for kids: it is large, the rails fit well, and is very strong. A dacha or veranda of a country house is well suited for this road - there kids can truly enjoy the size of their road. Price range n all companies from approximately 500 to 4000 rubles.

Railways of the Ogonyok plant(Russia)
Two roads were produced in Russia at the Ogonyok toy factory - “Baby” and “Good Way” (the latter name is Ogonyok). For unknown reasons, they are now out of production. But, nevertheless, we included them in our review, because... many have them and many can purchase them at online auctions. The author of the review did not actually see these roads and did not assemble them, but, according to user reviews, these roads are very good - with their own nuances, which is typical for the domestic goods market. However, more positive feedback than negative ones. The train moves itself, the rails are large, the track is wide, and it requires a lot of space to build. Age 3 – 10 years, and maybe more. Price range: 600 – 1000 rub. behind new set, but now it is increasingly being sold as an antique item, so the prices may also be “antique”.