Thomas & Friends is a British children's television series which has been delighting small children for over 25 years.  Due to its worldwide popularity, Thomas & Friends merchandise can be found in almost every form imaginable: books, magazines, bedding, toys and the like.

I recently had the opportunity to review the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway Crane & Cargo Figure-8 Set from Learning Curve.  Keep reading to learn more!

The Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway Crane & Cargo Set is designed for children ages 3 years old and up.  This set allows your child to help Thomas ride the rails around the Island of Sodor and watch as Thomas travels up and over the bridge and then back under it with the classic figure 8 layout.  This toy even lets you stop at the crane to load and unload your cargo.

It comes complete with a Thomas engine, cargo cart, cargo box, crane set up with movable stop sign, two-piece bridge and 13 pieces of wooden track which interlock together to form a figure 8.  These 20 pieces are well-crafted and very durable.  My daughter is not the easiest on her toys, but I can safely say that these have withstood any abuse she's doled out so far.

There are two features of the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway Crane & Cargo Figure-8 Set that I liked equally well.  First, the train track is composed entirely of wooden, easy-to-assemble track pieces.  These pieces fit together in the same manner as a jigsaw puzzle and are perfect for little hands to manipulate.  What I really thought was neat was how this track is completely reversible.

One side of the track's pieces looks like a typical train track and has the two grooves in it so that the Thomas train cars can ride on it, but the other side looks just like a piece of highway and doesn't contain the two grooves.  This side of the track, I've discovered, is absolutely perfect for toy matchbox cars.  Now that's an innovative design!

Second, I really liked the cargo crane.  Learning Curve designed this part well, for it only contains a few pieces and easily locks in with the rest of the train track.  There is a small platform where the crane is mounted and this platform even contains a movable stop sign for more imaginative fun.  To operate the crane, simply turn the knob on the side to lift and lower the cargo.

The coolest part of this crane is the magnetic end piece, which can then connect to the magnet pieces on Thomas, the cart or the cargo box so as to lift them all into the air.  Kids will definitely have a great time playing with this magnetic crane!

Riley absolutely adored the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway Crane & Cargo Figure-8 Set.  I wasn't sure how she'd react since trains are typically considered a boy's toy, but I would highly recommend this for both boys and girls!  Riley loved trying to build new configurations with her track's pieces, and the magnetized parts of the train cars, cargo and crane couldn't have been any more fun for her.

What's great is that all of the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway pieces are completely interchangeable, so if you have another Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway set, you can build one massive train town from all of the pieces.  I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that these pieces are completely interchangeable with the Chuggington wooden railway track as well!

We already owned a Learning Curve Chuggington set and was grateful that these pieces integrated together flawlessly.  Now, we have one super duper train toy in our living room that brings Riley plenty of enjoyment every day!