My three-year-old son Buster loves Thomas the Tank Engine, which has its pros and cons. I love that the wooden train sets involve nothing more than his imagination and kid power, and don't require batteries or make noise or anything else. However, I hate that the trains, track, and associated accessories are SO expensive, and also that they are so limited. Sure, there are some bridges that come with small inclined pieces of track, but they are boring, and there's nothing I hate more than limitations when we are building track set-ups. I was ordering him a few new engines for his birthday from the Creative Trains Online Store, and spotted the Nilo FlexaTrack, which I'd seen around Christmas on the Nilo site and I decided to splurge and buy a piece.

::: FlexaTrack Specs :::

The Nilo FlexaTrack is essentially a 16-inch piece of plastic train track designed to fit in seamlessly with Thomas, Brio, Maxim, and other compatible wooden train track. Made with what I can only assume is some type of metal skeleton, the Nilo FlexaTrack will bend and hold its shape much like a Gumby toy; no matter which way you bend the it, the Nilo FlexaTrack will retain its shape, from banked curves to small hills.

::: The Wonders of FlexaTrack :::

Originally, the Nilo FlexaTrack was available only in a red color, which really stood out in a train set-up, but it's now available in a beige plastic that blends in more readily with the wooden track.

Now that we have one piece of Nilo FlexaTrack, I greedily want more! It connects to the wooden track fairly seamlessly, and the new and exciting things I can do with the track like creating small bumps in the track, or making a small ramp over a piece of track rather than a huge contraption with the traditional track is great!

We also have the Maxim Roundhouse in our collection, and it's sometimes hard to manipulate track around the roundhouse. The Nilo FlexaTrack makes it even easier to manipulate curves around large structures (although in that instance, the Thomas Wacky Track would probably have done the job).

While $6.99 for a single piece of track may seem a bit on the expensive side, I'm adding more Nilo FlexaTrack to the boys' wishlists for my younger son's upcoming birthday and for Christmas, as well as some of the other Nilo specialty items, such as something called Jax that allow you to take your track over the edges of the table. I love doing layouts with the Nilo FlexaTrack so much that I'm not batting an eye at paying for more pieces. I, er, Buster has dreams of an entire layout done with it.

More pictures of the Nilo FlexaTrack in action can be viewed at the Nilo web site: http://www.nilotoys.com/acc.htm

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Other Thomas-related reviews:

Briarpatch Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Number Game • Chinese Dragon • Dazy Sure Track • Ivo Hugh with Zoo Cars • Lifting Bridge • Mavis • Nilo Multi-Use Storage Bench • Nilo Multi-Use Train Table • Schylling Thomas & Friends Tin Drum • Sir Topham Hatt & Lady Topham Hatt • Spencer

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 6.99
Type of Toy: Trains
Age Range of Child: Other