Suggestions for Toy Trains...

Playmobil 123 trains (not the motorized ones) are the BEST. The tracks go together easily and stay together. They last forever and are so much fun. The trains stay on the tracks nicely too. YOu can buy them at Chalkboard (Joliet or Naperville) or Anderson's Book Store (Naperville) or even off of EBAY (you can get a great set off EBAY for not that much and they really can't be damaged and look brand new even 10 yrs later).

This is the most played with trainset we have here at my daycare.
N.

My grandaughter is 18 months old annd she loves trains. She like Thomas the train. Maybe you could get him thomas

I don't know anything about the trains that are out there....but, when my kids were little I bought a train to go around the bottom of the Christmas tree. They loved it. Then it got put away for the season. I don't know about your kids but mine got tired of race tracks and trains etc. very quickly. With the "Christmas Train" they looked forward to getting it out every year and didn't get tired of it.

we love the Brio trains - personally i do not like Thomas trains (overpriced, annoying, and i'd rather have my kid play with toys than characters) but Amazon and online retailers have a great selection of brio and tracks. As for buses, the Fisher Price bus has been a favorite of my 2.5 yr old son's since last xmas. The leapfrog bus is good too. as with all things, batteries are easily removed if you don't loike noise making toys (i dont)

The Imaginarium brand that is sold at Toyr R Us is reasonable priced and has a wide variety of trains, tracks and accessories. We actually own the table with the wooden tracks (also came with some trains- Thomas table doesn't even come with tracks and is way more expensive). This table and tracks is compatible with Thomas wooden trains so we have bought him some of those. My son is 2 1/2 and absolutely loves it and even with his "character" trains he does some great imaginary play!

Are you open to the Thomas the train train sets?

My son LOVES the Thomas trains. He has recieved one or two for Christams or birthdays (and some times other times of the year a a treat). His collection is getting quite large but it wasn't a big expense to us because it was a little here and there or gifts.
I know there is a Thomas the Train movie out now (Christmas theme) that has a small train whistle included. This might be a good way to introduce the Thomas stories, etc. You can also buy these trains on ebay so they are not as expensive.

Also, after seeing the previous posters response about Brio trains, I would like to add that all wooden trains work on all wooden tracks (ie: Brio and Thomas trians with both ride on eachother tracks). You can find inexpensive (not brand name) wooden track, risers, bridges, etc made by Melissa and Doug. (I found them at a little train store in Geneva, IL) It was a great find and a great way to expand my son's track without breaking the bank.

You can also find larger wooden train whistles at a children's train store. There is one in Geneva, IL and another in Yorktown Mall in Lombard,Il.

I don't have a suggestion for a specific train, but you can find any train imaginable at America's Best Train Shop in Itasca. It's off Irving Park Road, just west of Route 53. They have tons of clothes, toys, DVDs, trains, Legos, birthday supplies, etc. http://www.americasbesttrainshoppe.com/

They have a room set up with Thomas and Brio tracks where the kids can play and they have some model train layouts. It is a lot of fun just to go browse there for an afternoon.

Have fun!

IKEA has really cheap sets and they are compatible with brio and thomas sets. We have a big table made by brio and have the whole big set and the IKEA set works with our brio set. If you want to start out and "try" a train set, IKEA is the way to go. Maybe just get some of the motorized engines from brio or thomas but start out with IKEA. Good luck.