This week has been a week of excited exploration for Esther and William as they were given their very first Track Master Thomas Set by Fisher Price.

Esther, and William in particular, are obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. They know the names and numbers of every engine, steamy and diesel, on the Sodor Railway. They love all the films and are always searching for new activities, episodes, audio series and books.

We have lots of wooden track with wooden engines, we have some Duplo Thomas and some Mega Bloks Thomas but this was our first ever experience of Track Master from Fisher Price.

We were sent the Quest For The Crown Set for the purpose of this review together with three engines, Caitlin, Connor and Stephen.

These are all characters from the film, King of the Railway.

The set provides a figure of eight track with some rather flash features and challenges for the trains to meet along their way.

Thomas (and the other engines) “must power through the castle entrance before the gate drops, then navigate the abandoned mine. As he chugs along, Thomas discovers the track is out: use the crane to swing the missing track in place so he can continue on his journey.”

It is an exciting play set that children can use independently once the track has been set up.

David and my uncle set up the track. The picture on the box is wrong so do not try to use it as a guide for setting up the track, instead follow the instructions which are much clearer. we were all thrown by the extra piece of track included but not mentioned anywhere that converts the broken track into a complete figure of eight.

Esther and William were very keen to get started, which did not help with getting the track complete. Once it was ready though they played together really well. Placing their engines onto the track and watching them whizz around. They loved shouting out to the trains in danger of the missing track. Watching the trains race around the rails was exciting for a while but I am not sure Esther and William get as much from the Track Master as they do from our wooden tracks and trains.

One thing that William really does like is that the engines have pistons that move and that the engines ‘go on their own’ around the house. The trains are also just about compatible with our wooden track. William has spend a lot of time inspecting the engines and working out how the pistons work to help the engines move.

The Track Master trains are very much like the animated characters in the films and television series. Esther and William love them.

The track is better than I thought it might be but I am not sure that I would choose it over traditional wooden track, even for my Thomas loving tots.

I do wonder if Esther and William are a little young to get the most out of the Track Master set?

The figure of eight can be extended with special expansion track sets which would give a longevity to the use of the set. William enjoys creating tracks and one of the things I love about train play is the learning possibilities. When a track set only works in one configuration much of those possibilities are taken away.

Esther and William have loved playing with this track this week and the trains now come with us wherever we go. William’s favourite is Caitlin while Esther mostly plays with Stephen.

Do you have Trackmaster trains and track? I would love to know what you think.