Thomas & Friends TrackMaster, Maron Station Starter Set

This is my almost 1-1/2 year old's first train. He was playing with a Thomas at his cousin's house so I thought I'd get him one. I was unsure about whether to get a motorized or non-motorized set but I decided to go with motorized to see if he would enjoy watching the train go on its own. When he first got it, he was a bit startled when the train moved by itself around the track. That didn't last long and he started to play with Thomas for hours per day on and off the track. At first (16 mo) he preferred for the train to be turned off but now (17mo) he prefers it on and likes to watch it go. He has also learned how to turn Thomas on and off which he couldn't do for a while. I am impressed that the toy can be played with in the off position because I expected the wheels to lock but they don't and are fully functional. When the train is on, he often holds on to the wheels and listens to them click. This is obviously not good for the toy but miraculously, it just keeps going. Only time will tell how long Thomas will survive the wrath my little guy.The station that comes with this set is cute but he pretty much ignores it. I think it's just because he's too young right now.Putting the track together was extremely easy and there were some stickers that needed to be put on the station but all of that took very little time. The only problem I had was installing the battery (not included) and the instructions didn't explain it too well. After a few minutes of trial and error, I finally figured it out. If you need help with that read on.How to take the train apart to install the battery (1 AA):1. Get a small Phillips screw driver (about 2-3mm wide)2. Unscrew the screw at the bottom of the train (there are several screws on the bottom but only the one in the center can be unscrewed). After unscrewing, pull on the center wheels and a small piece will come out with screw inside of it (don't bother trying to shake the screw out).3. Pull the entire casing of the train off. To take apart, hold on to the red base with one hand and with the other hand press both sides of the blue casing in the center (near the #1s on the train), pull apart and it should come off easily.UPDATE (March 2012): My son will be turning 3 in a few months. There have been many, many, many more Thomas trains, tracks, destinations (structures like train stations or buildings). We have the wooden sets and the plastic sets. The wooden, plastic and metal trains. We have duplo. There's probably more, but you get the picture. After over a year of the Thomas experience, I've learned a lot. My recommendation at this point would be NOT to buy Trackmaster until the child is close to 3. Why? The child tends to leave the train on and laying around somewhere so the parent constantly has to find where the noise is coming from and turn it off. CONSTANTLY. You will also be changing batteries all of the time (rechargeables definitely recommended). Since we purchased this set, we only bought a Percy and some cars. The Thomas is now broken. Some of the cars are broken too. The plastic does not stand up to the abuse.At the time, I didn't think that pushing a train around would be a fun thing which is why I gravitated to the battery powered train. How wrong I was. He loves pushing the trains around which is another reason the Thomas train broke. He would turn it on and then push it around.We will be returning to Trackmaster soon for more trains & track. We still have the track & station from this set & they've both held up well.

In brief, this is a wonderful toy. I wish i had purchased it earlier. I not only recommend it highly but also plan to purchase it as gift to someone.Pros:1) It can run on battery, just a single 1 AA. You need to open a screw to put/change battery so keep a screw-driver handy. If possible, use a long lasting battery. I am using 2700mAh re-chargeable and it runs comfortably long time.2) Engine and carts can run smoothly on most surfaces besides tracks (motorized on battery as well as manual push/drag). My son loves to watch it go all over home including carpet and tiled floor. Also, if you switch-off motorized action, it can be dragged manually without breaking its motor. I was initially afraid that my son will break the gears by pressing it on the floor but switching the engine off dis-engage the motor and free the driving wheel.3) Track is good and you can add lot of extra carts, tracks and engines. This particular toy is a starter kit and comes with engine, station and tracks only... no carts. I ordered some carts also when purchasing it and those carts are good.http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Train-TrackMaster-Search-Rescue/dp/B003FLMWO8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_topI plan to add more tracks, carts and even an extra engine.Cons: The only can i can mention is that track is very small with this starter kit. However, you get extra pieces of track with carts (sold separately) and you can always buy more tracks.I can not really comment on durability since we have it only for 3 days. In the future, i will try to update my review for durability.I also have another train set (non-branded) which is very poor built quality (typically Chinese) but very interesting. It has sound Choo... choo..., lights andmost amazingly it leaves smoke like any combustion engine (probably does some chemical reaction inside engine using power from battery). I love it but my wife hates it due to smoke :)

This is the set that started them all! LOL These are my sons favorite trains. (He is 3 now) He got this set for Christmas last year and he has played this one train to death and I had to order a new one since its his favorite one. Oh yes, we have 7 trackmaster Thomas's' but THIS starter one is his favorite. This is such a good deal for all the track and the engine, which is battery operated.When I say I had to order a new one, don't think they aren't sturdy. I mean, over the course of a year, this thing got played with at least 10-12 hours A DAY. Along with all the others. It even had an accidental bath. The thing is a trooper.

There was never a question about how much this playset will be used and abused by our toddler. The hope was that it would interest him long enough and survive the regular abuse it will undergo in his hands. I am happy to report that this playset has survived two months of significant use (about 2 hours a day minimum). The engines have been thrown almost daily- in fun and anger and survived to tell the tale (we have carpeted floors). The tracks are easy to put together and work as advertised. The tracks are small and chances are that a satisfied customer will want to buy one or more of the track expansion sets.The engines run for a decent amount of time before batteries need to be replaced.The plastic of the tracks bends and over time I expect them to not fit as snugly as they do now.The price is about right to get started with train play sets and the cost of entry is lower compared to the wooden play sets.Recommended.