The Best Train Sets: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)

RBE top pick

BRIO Starter Travel Train Set

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BRIO popularized this system and makes well-finished wooden track. Melissa & Doug's 130-piece railway delivers the most layout per dollar. Buy the table bundle only if the table itself is the goal.

A wooden train set is one of the great multi-year toys: toddlers push the trains, grade-schoolers engineer the layouts. But the market splits into universal wooden track systems and proprietary motorized sets, and mixing them up is the classic gift mistake. We compared the original Swedish starter, the biggest Melissa & Doug set, a train-table bundle and the motorized Thomas alternative.

RBE top pick

BRIO

BRIO Starter Travel Train Set

Buy it

The original wooden railway: a 22-piece figure-8 with a tunnel, bridge and platform.

Best for: The first train set for a 3-to-5-year-old, or a gift where build quality and longevity matter more than piece count.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• Wooden track that owners describe as fitting together smoothly and holding up well over time.
• 22-piece figure-8 layout includes a tunnel-and-bridge intersection, station platform, train and two figures - a real play scene, not just a loop.
• Part of the BRIO World system and, in practice, compatible with Melissa & Doug and many wooden-track brands, so the set can grow for years.

Know before buying

• Expensive per piece next to the others here; expanding a BRIO layout costs real money.
• No storage solution in the box, just the cardboard packaging.
• The push train is unpowered, which is the point, but some kids expect motion.

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Melissa & Doug

Melissa & Doug Wooden Railway Set

Buy it

130-plus pieces - roundhouse, suspension bridge, trestle, turntable - premium tier against BRIO's mid-range starter.

Best for: The family gift for a train-obsessed kid: enough track for real layouts without buying five starter sets.

$$$ · premium

Why we like it

• Melissa & Doug counts 100 wooden track sections and supports plus more than 30 accessories: a roundhouse engine shed, suspension and trestle bridges, turntable, switches, T-junction, magnetic cranes, trees, workers and signs.
• Three trains in the box - a six-piece freight train with cargo, a four-piece passenger train and a three-piece flatbed truck - and instructions for four track layouts; serious layouts happen on day one.
• Standard wooden-track dimensions, so it mixes with BRIO and other wooden railways; the maker pitches it for 3- to 7-year-olds.

Know before buying

• Wood and finish are a step below BRIO: some pieces arrive with minor roughness that a sanding pass fixes.
• The box is 28.75 by 17.75 by 6.25 inches and the set still needs its own bin for storage; Melissa & Doug does not publish a weight.
• So many pieces that a 3-year-old's first layout needs an adult's help.

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KidKraft

KidKraft Rocky Mountain Train Set & Table

It depends

A play table plus a 50-piece train set at mid-range tier - a furniture purchase more than a train purchase.

Best for: Households shopping for a train table anyway, where the bundled track is a bonus rather than the point.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• Bundles a play table, a 50-piece train set and a tall mountain centerpiece with arched pass-through tunnels, at a tier that is hard to beat as a separate table-plus-set.
• Reversible tabletop lid (landscape print on one side, solid color on the other) with cutout sides for pinch-free removal, plus a mesh storage bag hidden under the center for cleanup.
• The raised table with rounded corners keeps pieces off the floor and layouts semi-permanent, which is the whole reason parents buy train tables.

Know before buying

• The wood and paint finish are a step down from BRIO or Melissa & Doug, the set mixes wood and plastic parts, and assembled tables can show fit gaps.
• A table is a commitment of floor space that does not fold away; KidKraft's published dimensions (23.5 by 23.5 by 27.56 inches) read like the carton, so check the manual for the assembled size.
• The mountain centerpiece is a fixed feature: kids either love it or it is in the way.

Find it on Amazon Read our detailed assessment ↓

We'd skip it

Thomas & Friends

Thomas & Friends A Bridge to Sodor (Fisher-Price)

Skip it

A battery-powered Thomas on proprietary plastic track - a different class of toy from a wooden railway, and a dead end for one.

Best for: A narrow case only: a hardcore Thomas fan in the preschool years. Everyone else should buy a wooden set that outlives the license phase.

$ · budget

Why we like it

• The motorized Thomas actually drives itself, which delights a Thomas-obsessed preschooler on day one.
• Colorful and character-accurate: Thomas, Carly the Crane and Brake Car Bruno, 10 play pieces and 19 track pieces, at budget tier.
• Simple flip-switch play that a 3-year-old can run alone.

Know before buying

• Proprietary plastic track does not connect to wooden railway systems, so it cannot grow with a real collection.
• The motor is the toy: when batteries or the drive unit die, the whole set loses much of its appeal (2 AAA, not included).
• Licensed character pricing means you pay for Thomas, not for track; Mattel lists it as a Walmart exclusive, so expansions may depend on one retailer.

See our pick instead Find it on Amazon anyway Read our detailed assessment ↓

How we judged the field

Wooden train sets divide on one axis that matters more than piece count: does the track belong to the universal wooden standard, or a proprietary system? Standard-track sets (BRIO, Melissa & Doug, KidKraft) all interconnect, so a starter grows into a collection across years and birthdays. Proprietary motorized sets deliver a bigger first-day thrill and then dead-end. We compared two universal-system anchors, a table bundle and the motorized licensed alternative, on compatibility, wood quality and real cost, working from what each maker publishes and from owner reports.

BRIO is the Swedish company that made wooden railways a category, and the Starter Travel Train Set (item 36079) shows why it is still the reference: 22 pieces forming a figure-8 with a tunnel, a bridge intersection and a station platform, plus a push train and figures. Owners describe the track as fitting together smoothly and holding up well.

It costs a lot per piece here, and there is no storage and no motor. That is the point: BRIO is the set you buy when you expect it to join a collection and outlast it, not when you want the biggest box under the tree.

The Melissa & Doug Wooden Railway Set is the volume play done right: the maker counts 100 wooden track sections and supports plus more than 30 accessories, including a roundhouse engine shed, suspension and trestle bridges, a turntable, switches, a T-junction, magnetic-tipped cranes, trees, workers and signs. Three trains come in the box - a six-piece freight train with cargo, a four-piece passenger train and a three-piece flatbed truck - along with instructions for four different track layouts. Melissa & Doug says it is compatible with all popular wooden railway systems, so it bolts straight onto a starter set or a BRIO collection, and pitches it for 3- to 7-year-olds.

The plain trade-off is finish: wood quality sits a notch below BRIO, with occasional rough edges that a sanding sponge fixes in minutes, and the 28.75 by 17.75 by 6.25 inch box is a logistics exercise (Melissa & Doug does not publish a weight). It sits a tier above the BRIO starter, but you get a layout that actually fills a floor - for a train-mad kid, that is the gift.

The Rocky Mountain bundle (item 10176) pairs a play table with a 50-piece train set and a tall mountain centerpiece with arched passageways the trains run through, over a printed town with police and fire stations. The table is the product: a reversible center lid (landscape print one side, solid color the other) with cutout sides for pinch-free removal, rounded corners, and a mesh storage bag hidden under the center for cleanup. KidKraft lists the materials as wood and plastic. At mid-range tier it is hard to beat if a train table was already on the list.

It depends because the table is furniture, not a toy upgrade. The wood and paint are a step down from BRIO and Melissa & Doug, the table is a permanent floor-space commitment (KidKraft’s published dimensions of 23.5 by 23.5 by 27.56 inches read like the carton, so check the manual for the assembled footprint), and the mountain is a fixed feature some kids route around. Buy it when the table itself was the plan; skip it when what you actually wanted was more track.

The motorized Thomas set is a different class of toy from the three wooden sets, and that is the reason to skip it, not a flaw in the toy itself. Mattel’s HTG38 is a battery-powered Thomas (2 AAA, not included) that races a proprietary plastic track past Carly the Crane to hook up Brake Car Bruno, with 10 play pieces and 19 track pieces, rated for ages 3 and up and sold as a Walmart exclusive. A Thomas fan in preschool will love it on day one.

The trouble is the system: the track does not connect to wooden track, the motor is the entire play value, and when the unit dies the set becomes plastic scenery. It sits at budget tier, priced partly for the license, and a single-retailer exclusive makes expansions a question. Families who start here and later move to wooden sets find the tracks do not migrate, which makes this the classic well-meaning dead-end gift.

BRIO vs Melissa & Doug: which should you buy?

Different answers for different kids. BRIO’s 22-piece starter is the mid-range entry: well-made pieces, a safe first buy, and the set that anchors a collection. Melissa & Doug’s 130-piece set is the premium-tier volume option: roughly six times the pieces for one tier more, at a small step down in finish.

For a first set or a gift where quality signals matter, buy BRIO. For a confirmed builder or a household with two kids fighting over track, buy Melissa & Doug.

What to look for

• Universal wooden track: sets that connect to the standard wooden system can grow for years; proprietary track ends the story.
• Piece composition over count: bridges, switches and destinations matter more than raw track pieces; a roundhouse is worth twenty straights.
• Wood quality: dense beech or birch with smooth connectors; rough edges and loose joints are the budget-tier tells.
• Storage reality: a hundred loose pieces need a bin or a table drawer; factor cleanup into the gift.
• Powered vs push: motors delight toddlers and date fast; push trains teach the play that lasts.
• The recipient’s phase: a licensed character engine peaks hard for 18 months; the track outlives the character.

Our final take

For most families the BRIO Starter Travel Train Set is the buy: wooden track, broad compatibility and a layout that works out of the box. When piece count is the goal, the Melissa & Doug 130-piece set delivers the biggest layout for the money. The KidKraft table bundle is a furniture decision - good one, but only if you wanted the table. And the motorized Thomas set is the skip: a different class of toy whose entire value rides on two AAA batteries. Buy track that grows, and the trains will keep mattering.

Deciding between the top two? See our head-to-head: BRIO Starter Travel Train Set vs Melissa & Doug Wooden Railway Set.

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