Editorial Review

Getting young children interested in toy trains is a wonderful way to teach as well as to have a lot of fun. By playing with train sets, young minds learn how to fit things together, how transportation works, how cities and communities are created, all the while enhancing their imagination through pretend play. This sizable and table kit features a smooth, easy to clean melamine surface on the top with convenient storage compartment underneath. The 83-piece train set sports a wide variety of train cars plus buses, police cars, dump trucks, and other vehicles to operate on the pieces of road, which are included in addition to the track. Filling stations, gates, buildings, bridges, and other modular components add to the magic. Since all the pieces fit together so handily, young train enthusiasts can spend hours designing their own sprawling networks and configurations. We liked how complete this set is and how handily it all stores when playtime is done. Compatible with Thomas the Tank Engine and Brio train sets. --Charlie Williams ... Read more

Editorial Review

Wooden train sets are a wonderful developmental toy, encouraging hand-eye coordination, creativity, vocabulary, and providing hours of imaginative play. This 34-piece construction collection includes an assortment of basic track pieces, a hardworking construction engine, a magnetic crane car that lifts cargo off of the flatbed car, a rail crossing, and a dump truck. A great starter set for budding engineers, this relatively inexpensive real wood set is fully compatible with other name brand wooden railway systems. --Deb Oroszlan ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A great toy for your little man!
We bought this wooden construction set together with my 4 year old son. This is the only toy out of the whole store that he wanted. It is a bit pricey, but very durable and worth the money. With time you can add the extension tracks and more vagons. My son did not want to leave the house for 3 days, just wanted to play with his train set. I like the wooden sturdy parts and magnetic parts are very cool. Like the previous reviewer mentioned, you have to follow the diagram in the manual exactly, or you will come short of parts. If your son loves the trains, he will definately love this toy from Imaginarium!

false representation
This set does NOT include nearly enough pieces to construct the pictured
train set. There are appr. nine pieces missing. Nowhere in the fine print is it stated that you need to buy additional track to construct the pictured set.

He Loves It!
We bought this toy for our 2 year old grandson and it immediately became his favorite toy. He is really getting into imaginative play now which the train set encourages. He also likes to put the track together himself...it's like a puzzle for him. The only problem is that there are small pieces so we don't let him play with it without close supervision. I can't wait to add to the set!

great fun
We love this toy. My 2 year old loves it and is learning how to put the tracks together. It is very easy to assemble and make various shaped tracks with. It is very durable and plenty of fun, even for the adults that are just "helping" (or should I say playing). I have more fun just seeing which way I can put it together next. We plan on purchasing additional track to extend the fun. The tracks stay together great.

3-year old son loves it!
Received this as a gift and my son loves it! Only thing is to get the track to look like the picture you have to put it together EXACTLY like it looks on the box - no variation! Hope to add some extra track and see if we can have some more options. ... Read more

EDITORIAL REVIEW

Enjoy the pastoral life of a pleasant agricultural community in this charming train set from Imaginarium. It features 51 pieces in all, including special mechanisms for moving hay bales and loading and unloading cargo. Small farm pieces, including a friendly farmer, a cow, and a pig round out the look. There’s nothing electronic to contend with here, no flashing lights or pre-recorded electronic sounds, just the simple pleasure of guiding a train around the track getting some farm work done. The pieces are compatible with other Imaginarium train sets, including Thomas the Tank Engine sets, as well as BRIO Wooden Railway systems. --Charlie Williams ... Read more

Editorial Review

A perfect compliment to most wooden railroad sets, this 21-piece expansion track pack is guaranteed to stimulate new layout ideas and creative play experiences. Including 17 pieces of straight track in numerous different lengths, two pieces of curved track, and two curved switch sections, this basic track pack can be paired with other name brand starter sets to create any number of elaborate and imaginative railroad systems. --Deb Oroszlan ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Delicate - Not for average boys
It was a lot of fun. However, the wood quality is not as good as the Thomas series. It is easier to break (after only one day, as oppose to 6 months or so of Thomas series we owned), and I do not know if Imaginarium carries lifetime warranty. They do not have their own website. ... Read more

Editorial Review

It's a really noisy day at the quarry. The" blastable" mountain has just been detonated and there is plenty of exposed rock to load up and haul away. Help the enormous rock excavator load up the dump truck and flatbed rail car. Then give it a push and watch the rock quarry rail move tones of rock down the mountain. Complete with an operational battery-operated detonator capable of blowing up the mountain and a wonderful assortment of track, this comprehensive 62-piece set is sure to excite any budding engineer. This relatively inexpensive real wood set is readily expanded and fully compatible with other name brand wooden railway systems. Two AA batteries required.--Deb Oroszlan ... Read more

Reviews (19)

This rock quarry does NOT rock!
(...)This set is horrid. The mountain blaster works with generic batteries but the blasting part is a ...joke. Place the rocks on the mountain top, push the TNT bar with your hands and the 3 tiny fake rocks that will fit on top... dribble or roll gently down the mountain side. Pop-up pirate is more thrilling in our opinion. (...). I know that the rocks cannot blast or someone will get hurt but this toy is un-thrilling. There is a lot of track included...really big tractor too! The train engine is nice I have to admit but the overall is a bore. Look on the net and find off brand sets that will rock your world for 29.99$...We did! The train set in the box was heavy and when together fits on a standard board. The illustrations are bland in the one page instruction sheet....The instructions seemed lacking and we had one extra peice left over. Most of the peices are wraped in plastic so the children will enjoy the thrill of unwrapping! The greatest joy for our 2 1/2 year old was the unwrapping...after that good night Irene.
We took it all back to Toysrus that same night and they refunded my money without question.
That is nice!

Rock Quarry-r-us-...
The rock quarry stinx. If I have to go find a certain battery that works, then I want to know why. Does the manufactorer also make the batteries or own stock in that company??? It is ridiculous. Instead, I have decided to hold an implosion of the rock mountain in front of my home. This way I will get more enjoyment than the frustration I have felt trying to figure out a 3 year olds malfunctioning toy. I will never buy a product from this company again.

BOOO to Imaginarium
Like everyone else I'm miffed. Try explaining to a three year old why the new toy ---that they're so excited to receive --- doesn't work. From reading these reviews, I've --thankfully-- found out it's probably the batteries. Do they have R&D in China? Does Toys-R-Us test any of the products their Product Buyer suggests? I don't mind getting and using specific batteries, but it is the company's responsibility to inform the public. I will think long and hard before buying any Imaginarium product again.
Shame Imaginarium. Shame Toys-R-Us.

New Present
We just got this for our 2 1/2 year old son for Christmas, so I am not sure of all the ins and outs yet. We were very disappointed to find that the rock quarry didn't work. I kept telling my son that I would try to call the company, etc., but finally today sat down at the computer to figure out what to do. I finally ended up at this page and all I can say is what a relief!

One thing, THANK YOU to all of you kind people who mentioned the Rayovac Max Life batteries. I just read about them this morning and went to 4 stores before I found them. I ended up having to buy a 30 pack, but it is well worth it!!! My son is so happy that we finally got it to work.

To those of you who want to just sit and feel sorry for yourselves, make a trip to the store for your kids. They will be happy to have a working set and the batteries are not more expensive than regular ones (duracell, energizer). It sounds to me like some of you just want to be angry.

Upset parent
This train set was a gift for my 3 year old. The rock quarry does not work. I am very upset. I refuse to buy special batteries that probably in time will fail also. One sheet of instructions is not enough. There isn't a customer service phone number in the box either. I will take this entire set back to Toys R Us and request a refund. I will then buy my son a different set, by a different vendor. This is very dissapointing. Toys r Us should take the set down that is on display in the store, and not sell this type of toy anymore. Imaginarium is making Toys r Us look bad as a retailer. The children go into the store and play with the display and when we as parents buy it for them, it doesn't work. This is just SAD. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This sprawling and expansive play set will likely delight any kid interested in transportation. There are 65 pieces in all including trains, forklifts, ships, tugboats, and trucks, along with big buildings, cranes, and bridges. Use the hand cranks to unload cargo from the vehicles with a winch that attaches to the cargo with magnets. We were impressed by the amount of track offered, allowing kids (and probably Mom or Dad too) to lay out endless varieties of configurations. And it's all pretty low-tech, which means fewer flashing lights and ornate special effects but also an endearing simplicity and a mercifully battery-free existence. --Charlie Williams ... Read more

Editorial Review

This is one way to keep playtime pure, simple, and inexpensive. Made from real, painted wood, this quarry train combo comes in three pieces: a two-man car with a seesaw handle; an empty, blue transport car; and an ochre-colored transport car "filled to the brim" with coal. The cars attach to each other securely, but not with hooks. Cleverly, their bumpers stick together via small but powerful little magnets. The wheels of the cars are well constructed and narrow, designed to fit Imaginarium's "Logging Adventure" train set (sold separately). However, the cars are also designed to be compatible with almost any other standard, wooden train set.Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (5)

works fine if you use the right batteries
The reviews here seem to be mostly reviewing the detonator problem with the quarry mountain set rather than the train cars of this set, so I thought I'd better pass the word on here: according to reviewers of the rock quarry set, this problem is fixed by using Rayovac Maximum Plus batteries. Don't know why, but there you go.

three trys, three non-functional mountains & no contact #
We bought this set for our grandson. We set it up and he loved it, but the mountain did not work. We returned it to the store in Concord, CA, but they did not have a replacement. We were sent to Antioch, CA. We insisted that the customer service representative try the replacement before we took it home. After opening three sets and trying them, she could not find one that worked with the store's batteries or ours. She did not know what she could do to find a working mountain, nor where we could get service. We find this strange. Where are the warranties?

what's the deal with the detonator????????
As in the other reviews I have read we have taken this train back two times, meaning we have tried three different Rock Quarry Train Sets and none of the detonators work???? Are we missing something???? or does the detonator just not work on any sets?????????????

Imaginarium Rock Quarry Train Set
My grandson loves this toy. We have been disappointed that the detonator and the crane did not work on the first train. We exchanged it and the detonator doesn't work on the second train. He has loved it as is and will love it even more if he has all working parts.

Rock Quarry review
Very easy to set up and my son places trains on tracks easily. However the Quarry did not work and will be returning for a new one. ... Read more

Editorial Review

With the exception of a few train sounds, and some flashing lights, this logging train set keeps playtime pure and simple: it leaves most of the innovation to its users. Included is up to 6 feet of track, made of 25 lightweight, sanded wood pieces. They can be laid in the typical circular or figure-eight pattern but--with a two-piece ramp, log-cabin lumber mill, street crossing and tunnel included--imagination comes in handy. There are also painted wood conifers and an illustrated mountain backdrop for a landscape. Set in timber country, the set comes four vehicles: the train's engine, two bed-cars for hauling logs, and a heavy-duty truck for taking timber on the road (other cars are sold separately). Required: adult guidance during construction of both track and log cabin mill; two "AG13" button cell batteries. Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Compatable with the "Thomas" set
Our son is a Thomas fanatic, and we've been slowly building up his train set. The only drawback to the Thomas brand stuff is that they are so expensive (the "Roundhouse" by itself will set you back 80 bucks!)and almost never go on sale. This "logging adventure" set by Imaginarium fits neatly into the Thomas tracks, and you get more equipment for your dollar. Plus, it comes with different trucks and engines, adding more variety to your child's playtime. A nice "filler" for less money.

logging adventure set by imaginarium
We bought this train for our son for Christmas and we were very upset when we put it together there was a part missing.
The child has never been able to run his train all the way around and use it properly because of the missing part.
... ... Read more

Editorial Review

This is one way to keep playtime pure, simple, and inexpensive. Made from real, painted wood, this quarry train combo comes in three pieces: A bright orange and blue cement-mixing car; a silver "oil gravel" tanker; and one ground vehicle--an orange and black pavement flattener with a gigantic front wheel. The cars attach to each other securely, but not with hooks. Cleverly, their bumpers stick together via small but powerful little magnets. The wheels of the cars are well constructed and narrow, designed to fit Imaginarium's "Logging Adventure" train set (sold separately). However, the cars are also designed to be compatible with almost any other standard, wooden train set. Diane Beall ... Read more