Tomy Tomica 85401 Mega Station Set

My five year old son, who happens to be autistic, has long since grown out of wooden train sets. But 'proper' train sets are still too delicate and fiddly. Tomy have come up with the perfect stage in between - and that would be true for any child, as his younger non-autistic sister and older cousins would testify.The train is powered by a single size C battery. It doesn't require a screwdriver to insert it. It has two speeds, and a very simple on/off/speed switch. The track is easy to put together, durable, and tolerant: the train will stay on the rails even if they are not perfectly aligned.But the fun is in the station. I wasn't sure about this at first. It looked too fussy. But in fact it is a work of genius. It is powered by 3 type C batteries (small screwdriver required), and when switched on becomes like a beautiful Victorian toy. The train is halted at the station as it comes around the track. The barrier lifts to allow the first car to cross the track; once across, the train is then allowed through. Then a series of paddles lift the car up a ramp, until it gets to the top, and races back down to the level crossing again - or joins a queue, since up to five cars can be used (it comes with two). All the while the crossing clangs its warning, and things whir and click. My son finds it utterly entrancing - and seeks out the numerous angles from which to watch this poetry in motion.And furthermore the train can also be made to halt or go at points around the track by pulling a little lever. It comes with a good amount of track, but if you buy some extension track too, you end up with a really big trainset, with lots of possibilities, and plenty of scope for interaction. For the autistic child there is huge potential to extend play, and to get involved in his or her world. And if they do throw pieces about, they are tough enough to take it.When we first had it I rushed out to buy some rechargeable batteries, assuming this much activity would drain the batteries within a day or two. But incredibly the first set of batteries lasted two months, despite being played with every day.There's plenty else to buy to develop the set and keep it interesting. Full marks to Tomy - they really have come up with a beautiful toy.

Bought this item for my son's third birthday. I knew that the road was cardboard before purchasing so that did not come as a surprise. However it is still fairly durable despite this. I had no problem putting the set together and it works perfectly. I like that it can be used in auto or manual mode and my son has already got the hang of using the set manually.It's a great little set, not too complicated but with lots to look at and see. My son really likes it. We have ordered some extra track and another train for it.It does take up a fair bit of room and would be a pain to keep taking apart so bare this in mind when ordering. I would have given five stars if the road was not cardboard and also sometimes the track does come apart. The stickers started to peel off almost immediately, although my son does not care about this. I have superglued them down!In general though, it is a lovely toy for children not ready for the more complicated, and expensive, hornby train sets.

Purchased this at the last minute along with the Bumper Track Pack as a Christmas present for my 5 year-old. He's had hours of fun since. Bought some extra trains too. Its imaginative, well designed and robust.A point to bear in mind is that these (the trains and the 'city' module) require 'C' cell batteries; the module tales three and each train takes one. I am considering purchasing a charger with about eight MiMH rechargeable 'C' cell batteries as with regular use, we go through a lot of these.On the whole, thoroughly recommended.

I bought the Tomica Megastation in January, I am very happy with my purchase, train stays on the track, lots of fun when new, if I had one child this would keep them occupied for a long time, but I have three young kids, all wanting to play with the buttons (product quickly put back in box due to arguments), I feel this product is very much a toy for one child to play at a time, after a few weeks the connection to the trains broke, thought that this was too quick for this to break, but can't imagine how Tomica would make this stronger as it depends on how the child treats the toy, this enabled only one train to go around the track, but Amazon dealt with this quickly when I phoned them and let them know about this problem, in 2 days I had a new full Megastation sent and it was easy to return the one I had. Overall happy with the purchase.

Bought this for my 5 yr old who is train/car mad!!! Fortunately had the sense to set it up prior to giving it to him on Christmas day as it does take a little while. We have a large play table, but still not quite large enough to accommodate the full set so had to tweak the layout a little. Wrapped the whole table and wow what a reaction. He absolutely loves it. He is fascinated by the cars working independantly and the trains stopping and starting. He didn't want to go to bed on Christmas night because he was afraid it might not be there in the morning!!! I am pleased that he can use his own die cast cars on the set as well. It is noisy there is no getting away from that, but hey, he is lost in a world of imagination and playing beautifully so who am I to argue. If your child loves cars and trains then this is a real winner!!!

My son had this for christmas aged 4 and he loves it 5 months later. It still has the same batteries in it and continues to work perfectly. We have since bought extra track to add to it. It's incredibly well designed and my son will spend hours pressing the buttons and letting the trains through. Fabulous! Ypu doo need quite a lot of room though.