Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've found that many of the Thomas Wooden Railway destinations are either a hit or a miss. The misses generally are too complicated, poorly thought out, or feel half baked. This is definitely a miss.
First, it is HUGE, not that that's bad, I bought it in person so I knew how big it would be, but because of the size and the configuration of the track going in/out of it, it is hard to incorporate into a working track plan. The two track entrances on the front necessitate that you offset the shop away from the edge of the table and run track in front of the shop. This pushes the destination further away from little hands. Then, the actual functions in the shop are hard to reach, and since they don't work that well (the lift is useless and requires two hands, the wheel tester generally requires two hands, and the crane is super top heavy) the added reach over the front track is frustrating for little kids.
Next, the crane is a nightmare. Not only is it unstable (it really should be affixed to the giant base of the shop), but it's poorly designed also. The knob on the side to raise/lower the string is stiff and has a very low profile, so you need to wrap several fingers around it to get it to turn. I find that everyone who tries this ends up skinning their knuckles on the sharp corners of the cranes support column if you don't have the crane perfectly square with the base. Also, the yellow claw on the crane is fixed and you need to 'snap' it over engines you want to pick up, but the motion is so difficult that you end up picking the engine off the track with your hands, snapping it in, swinging the engine over to the left/wheel tester while skinning your knuckles, then picking it up again while wrestling it out of the claw. I can barely do it, never mind my three year old. Luckily, you can remove the claw, which leaves a magnet like many of the other Thomas Wooden Railway cranes.
It does provide a good backdrop for breakdown/repair story lines, and I do rotate it in and out of the layout, but I just don't feel that it's worth the price for how frustrating it is to use.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway - Repair and Go Station at Sodor Steamworks
Help Thomas fix up the engines as good as new with this exciting new destinationthat provides three interchangeable layouts! Inspired by the DVD, "Hero of the Rails,"the Repair and Go Station features an engine hoist to lift the broken engines, wheel
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