Welcome to WoodenToyTrain.org and Sincere Greetings to Our Visitors!

Made to last, wooden trains have never gone out of style. Model toy craftsmen have been perfecting making wooden trains for as long as anyone can remember. They can be painted and decorated as colorfully or as little as the maker decides. The level of detail on these storied products is both simple and wonderful.

Since wood is organic it will expand and contract with temperature and moisture and be damaged with cracks no matter what it is coated with. Therefore, you need to occasionally wipe it with warm soapy water and air-dry it. Refresh them with mineral oil, not salad oil, and keep wooden toys out of the sun.

Fun Wooden Toy Trains at Amazon.com

 

Coolest Wooden Toy Trains from eBay

 

Not all wooden trains are meant for children. There are scale models that you would want to keep encased in glass far above the reaches of children.

Maplelandmark.com
Based in Middlebury, VT, this small but dedicated company produces everything you see on its web site, thousands of toys. Mike Rainville started woodworking as a young man in the 70’s and by 1987 he acquired a toy workshop which grew and evolved by 1993 into the NameTrain concept fostered by retailer’s requests for trains that would be compatible with the track systems used at that time. Some of his trains are compatible with Brio and Thomas the Tank lines while others are designed for floor use. The trains can be personalized and are all crafted from hard and soft woods. The longevity and durability of his trains have turned them into collectibles although his shop introduces new cars each year.

Appropriate for ages three and up, the cars are about six inches long with a non-toxic finish and have removable and movable pieces. You have to see the reasonably priced wooden toy My Train engine, disk car, car carrier, caboose, animal car and coal line to name a few. They are beautifully made and so colorful. Look over their extensive accessories, track, buildings, trees and tunnels. Name Trains also stocks wall mount brackets so that you can purchase them for kids younger than three and they can be decorative items until the child can play with them an, perhaps, be placed back on the brackets as a keepsake when he or she outgrows them

Woodentrain.com
Whittle Shortline Railroad is a family owned company that has been handcrafting wooden toys for many years. The “little engine that could” evolved into an integral part of getting through life in America and Whittle has been part of that inspiration, becoming the number one wooden toy train maker.

Based in Valley Park, MO, Whittle’s toys are made to last for generations, with detail and authenticity sometimes lacking elsewhere. Not only can you purchase toy wooden trains on this website, you can learn train history and toy making. Parent approved, made in the USA, these toys are painted with child-safe paints and sealers – no lead paints are used. All of their toys are compatible with Brio® and Thomas ™ and they stand behind all of their products. Check out their holiday cars as well as the MEGA Steam engine and the MEGA Boxcar which works on the Thomas wooden track (won’t climb steep hills but are big). There is always that “Little Engine that Could” train, the story of which will be with us forever. Their inventory includes hundreds more than can be mentioned here. Check them out.

magnificentwoodworkings.com
If you are an adult looking for a truly magnificent work of art in the realm of wooden model trains, don’t miss out on this web site. Dave Cunningham, based in Christiansburg, VA, has been railroading since the age of three. As he grew older, he learned woodworking and subsequently combined the two arts. In 2002, Dave began making large scale wooden model trains that can take as long as 6 to 8 weeks to complete. These are unique hand crafted pieces that leave you breathless.

Look over his museum quality wooden trains that he can make in O-scale images some case from photos but mostly from samples, sketches or scale models. One piece is Iron Horse on a bridge and is 8 ft. long, 24” high. It was made from walnut, cherry and maple inlaid woods. His Big Boy is 10.25 scale, 12 ft. long, 19” high, has wheels and a bell that moves and is made from solid walnut with brass railings. Also available are wooden kits for various railroad cars from the NY Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad among others. They are 6.25 scale with bells and wheels that move. These are so beautiful that you can’t miss seeing them.

As their name signifies, wooden toy trains are mostly made of wood which would include the tracks, the locomotive, the cars and the scenery. However, the connectors between the cars are usually either made of metal hooks or magnets and some even have plastic wheels with metal axles. Because most wooden toy trains are not designed to accurate scale, they often bear resemblance to anthropomorphical, fictional or prototypical railroad trains and equipment.

The first American manufacturer to make wooden toy trains was Marshal H. Larrabee II who founded the Skaneateles Handicrafters in 1936. These early wooden trains were crafted of maple wood which was left in its natural form, unpainted and unstained. In 1956, Playskool began marketing the Skaneateles Handicrafters wooden toy trains until it was sold to a German firmed named Haba in 1980. Haba was later renamed T.C. Timber and continued its operations until 2002.

Watch a Great Video about Wooden Toy Trains