UPDATE: Entertrainment Junction has unfortunately closed its doors, in which the 2001 Times Square Table has been sold. Good news! It is in good hands and is currently owned by Thomas Critical : ua-cam.com/video/pdCx6QL5W2I/v-deo.html With such large layouts that were created for this toy store, how did they start making the layout? How did they make all the track pieces fit together? How did they replace the table once they needed to? All of these questions and more can be answered in the video above.
In the US, it's was great to see amazing T&F merchandise toys (such as Wooden Railway, and Take Along/Take 'n' Play, just to name a few) in toy stores in the old days.
I had so many fond memories of playing at this table. Especially during the day Hiro of the rails was released on dvd in 2009. What stood out to me was the mountain.
If anything this video made me appreciate my Thomas table that I still have till today. Also the need to build a Time Machine so I can go back and pick up so old Thomas merch, cause damn wooden railway definitely went up over the years. The rebooted version is cool and love the detail but old merch hit different. Lastly, the employees that had to fix that table must have hated themselves after doing it numerous times.
Take n play was the goat, many argue that wooden railway or track master was the best, but the accuracy on then was on point. I mean the proportions of the engine were right, even the wheel configuration was correct (excluding some moddles I've Emily's tender)and it was so creative. I don't know a single engine who wasn't relisted in this form.it was truly the best
Toysrus in Paramus NJ had a pretty good table set and Thomas section. I remember seeing the table in Times Square Toysrus since I was like 25 minutes away from the GWB and Lincoln Tunnel. It's unfortunate the wear and tear the sets took and it's extremely unfortunate how the company went bankrupt.
My local Barnes and Nobles had the same problem where Covid 19 had affected it, and they had a shit ton of learning curve trains, the only one I remember is the Talking Railway Series Edward
My sister used to drive me here when I was 5 I remember everything almost from this store and I wish that it can come back it was so amazing I remember all the Thomas stuff I bought over their it was great
@@Andrew_I_Exist You're welcome! I'm glad you pointed out the MMF 3 1/2" Road Curves too! Not many people know that they were only "available" in this layout! And I had no idea about the yellow coal loader!!! 😯
Of all Thomas wooden railway stuff, my favourites of the destinations are the deluxe roundhouse (with turntable), special engine shed, works engine repair shed, useful engine shed, Sodor bay bridge, Sodor scrub and shine, Boulder mountain, Stefano the super cruiser (which is any Thomas and friends toy kind) and rolling gantry crane. While also liking all the wooden trains, other vehicles, and crane characters up to Frieda, Gina, Vinnie, Ashima, Yong Bao (which is a fully coloured wood train) and Hugo along with a take n play Rex, two ertls which are Jock and the mail van, two capsule plarails of Merrick and Owen and the old style diesel 199 in for bear.
Very good video. One issue I think they had with the first table is due to how much space it used, it had significant portions of track that kids couldn’t reach. This would mean that kids would have to climb up on the table and that was a lawsuit waiting to happen. The mountain not only reduced the track to just reachable areas for small hands but also made it alot harder for kids to stand on the table. Also the old table was potentially sensory overload for the tykes so a big mountain that covered up the odds of the rest of the table might have helped.
I had Thomas train sets when I was a kid (early 2000s). But, I was only able to get Tomy brand (not mad at), however that wooden railway set had a very special charm to it and I know it was only available at Toys R Us (which I can count on one hand how many times I visited) and Barnes and Noble (found out way later). The only Wooden Railway trains I would have were the ones that came with the VCR tapes from Walmart. Good times…
I know I may have shown a bunch of images that you've never seen before, and you may want the actual image files. You can always message me in the comments about where I found an image. I could also upload all of my images to something like Google Drive, but that would take me a bit to do.
The damage the then-young children did to the destinations on the Thomas train tables is giving me some Toy Story 3 vibes... In all seriousness, Thomas Wooden Railway should have had wooden road switches available for individual sale. The only way you could get them was through the Zany Brainy Exclusive Deluxe Chocolate factory set. ERTL had a short-lived wooden roadway system called Hometown Roadway in 2002 that did have roadway switches available for individual sale, but the Hometown Roadway line sold poorly and was discontinued the following year. Everything in that line is now rare and expensive. (I did a Wooden Roadway Discussion on the McDonald's Drive-Thru Restaurant from that line.)
>goes back in time to "break that stupid dinosaur" >doesn't just record footage of the table himself Also having to sub in off-brand track pieces is a big mood.
5:09 didn't the Harold's Mail Delivery set from like 04 have those pieces Also is the coal hopper actually yellow or is it just sunfaded Also also 💀why does the works building have the shed roofs lol 12:00
Yes, the Harold's Mail Delivery set did have the 3 ½ inch Y-switches. I had no idea that Learning Curve made any when making that video, so that was a mistake that I made. And I think that is a Yellow Coal Hopper. The table was indoors at all times, so I don't think it is a sunfaded coalhopper. I'm not too sure why they made a yellow coal hopper just for this set, though.
@ToastTheThe Hmm, I never noticed that. Maybe that coal hopper was supposed to be an orange one, but there was a factory error that made it yellow, and then the Toys R Us employees just said, "It's okay. No one will notice." I'm just guessing because I have no idea.
Maybe talking about the sexed road switches will save this video from becoming Made For Kids. But honestly from my experience once the AI see's anything that uses childrens characters or childrens toys there is no argument the system will accept to to stop the video from disappearing once it's set by UA-cam as Made For Kids. The system just loves to stamp on creators until they stop making content that uses things kids enjoy. I have tried swear words and adult themes in videos, nothing stops the busted AI from making life as a producer on UA-cam a misery now. You have gone to a lot of work to make this video and even thats no argument against the crap AI thats set to wreck your love of the site.
@@Andrew_I_Exist I have no idea, I got all most of my wooden stuff when I was 3 for Christmas. It was a huge lot with a bunch of track, a store display table, and a lot of trains! All learning curve stuff and there were some traction rail y switches
I had four different Thomas tables. One of them got burnt The other one we threw away Another one we gave it to Goodwill and the last one is sitting in the storage with a Mercedes
I understand why Little Kids And Toddlers (Some who have Disabilities) Really wanted to Play with The Wooden Railway Table so much, But I can’t stand it when they tear the pieces apart from the table itself! I wish parents can Control their Kids so they won’t tear the pieces apart from the Table at all!😕😕
UPDATE: Entertrainment Junction has unfortunately closed its doors, in which the 2001 Times Square Table has been sold.
Good news! It is in good hands and is currently owned by Thomas Critical :
ua-cam.com/video/pdCx6QL5W2I/v-deo.html
With such large layouts that were created for this toy store, how did they start making the layout? How did they make all the track pieces fit together? How did they replace the table once they needed to? All of these questions and more can be answered in the video above.
I went into that toys r us and i had the honor of playing on that table. It was HUGE!
In the US, it's was great to see amazing T&F merchandise toys (such as Wooden Railway, and Take Along/Take 'n' Play, just to name a few) in toy stores in the old days.
I had so many fond memories of playing at this table. Especially during the day Hiro of the rails was released on dvd in 2009. What stood out to me was the mountain.
If anything this video made me appreciate my Thomas table that I still have till today. Also the need to build a Time Machine so I can go back and pick up so old Thomas merch, cause damn wooden railway definitely went up over the years. The rebooted version is cool and love the detail but old merch hit different. Lastly, the employees that had to fix that table must have hated themselves after doing it numerous times.
I wish I was alive to see some of these in person, they look really cool!
Wait, your not alive?
I remember seeing Trouble On The Tracks on its own box stand close by the giant wheel around 2008-2009. The Thomas section was well upstairs.
what do you mean by trouble on the tracks
Trouble on the Tracks was a Thomas and Friends PC game that they sold at the Toys R Us at some point.
@@Andrew_I_Exist oh i was confused
someones mama said no
Wow! Thank you for documenting all this. The mountain stuff is genuinely inspiring, i may have to draw something from that
Take n play was the goat, many argue that wooden railway or track master was the best, but the accuracy on then was on point. I mean the proportions of the engine were right, even the wheel configuration was correct (excluding some moddles I've Emily's tender)and it was so creative. I don't know a single engine who wasn't relisted in this form.it was truly the best
Take n Play was definitely awesome.
Toysrus in Paramus NJ had a pretty good table set and Thomas section. I remember seeing the table in Times Square Toysrus since I was like 25 minutes away from the GWB and Lincoln Tunnel.
It's unfortunate the wear and tear the sets took and it's extremely unfortunate how the company went bankrupt.
I remember seeing this table in nyc, god how much i miss it
That layout would be so sick to play with in real Life.
My local Barnes and Nobles had the same problem where Covid 19 had affected it, and they had a shit ton of learning curve trains, the only one I remember is the Talking Railway Series Edward
Same. My local library still has learning curve items like arthur and others still there 14 years later
I remember visiting this store when I went to New York.
I use to play with Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway and Ertl Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends when I was a little boy.
god i miss toys r us i used to get so much of my wooden railway from there
Never seen that table in the store, since i havent been a huge thomas fan. But the Times square store is a good memory of mine.
My sister used to drive me here when I was 5 I remember everything almost from this store and I wish that it can come back it was so amazing I remember all the Thomas stuff I bought over their it was great
Great video! Just thought I'd mention that the Y-Track that you talk about at 5:00 was actually introduced in 2004 in Harold's Mail Delivery Set.
I never noticed that. Thank you for telling me.
@@Andrew_I_Exist You're welcome! I'm glad you pointed out the MMF 3 1/2" Road Curves too! Not many people know that they were only "available" in this layout! And I had no idea about the yellow coal loader!!! 😯
Of all Thomas wooden railway stuff, my favourites of the destinations are the deluxe roundhouse (with turntable), special engine shed, works engine repair shed, useful engine shed, Sodor bay bridge, Sodor scrub and shine, Boulder mountain, Stefano the super cruiser (which is any Thomas and friends toy kind) and rolling gantry crane. While also liking all the wooden trains, other vehicles, and crane characters up to Frieda, Gina, Vinnie, Ashima, Yong Bao (which is a fully coloured wood train) and Hugo along with a take n play Rex, two ertls which are Jock and the mail van, two capsule plarails of Merrick and Owen and the old style diesel 199 in for bear.
Very good video.
One issue I think they had with the first table is due to how much space it used, it had significant portions of track that kids couldn’t reach. This would mean that kids would have to climb up on the table and that was a lawsuit waiting to happen. The mountain not only reduced the track to just reachable areas for small hands but also made it alot harder for kids to stand on the table.
Also the old table was potentially sensory overload for the tykes so a big mountain that covered up the odds of the rest of the table might have helped.
Those were some good insights.
I had Thomas train sets when I was a kid (early 2000s). But, I was only able to get Tomy brand (not mad at), however that wooden railway set had a very special charm to it and I know it was only available at Toys R Us (which I can count on one hand how many times I visited) and Barnes and Noble (found out way later). The only Wooden Railway trains I would have were the ones that came with the VCR tapes from Walmart. Good times…
The one at EJ definitely was at new York and was used. Just seen it the other week and there is still bits missing from play it had
That store feels like something out of security breach.
I know I may have shown a bunch of images that you've never seen before, and you may want the actual image files.
You can always message me in the comments about where I found an image. I could also upload all of my images to something like Google Drive, but that would take me a bit to do.
I hope they might bring this back for the Macy's one of Toys r Us
I still remember when I was 9 they had those in a toy world in Kalgoorlie
Thank you for the clear warning at the beginning of your video.
Underrated
*me looking at this table with my layout consisting of 3 tables*
This was a very enjoyable video! Thank you!
I'm glad you liked it!
The damage the then-young children did to the destinations on the Thomas train tables is giving me some Toy Story 3 vibes...
In all seriousness, Thomas Wooden Railway should have had wooden road switches available for individual sale. The only way you could get them was through the Zany Brainy Exclusive Deluxe Chocolate factory set. ERTL had a short-lived wooden roadway system called Hometown Roadway in 2002 that did have roadway switches available for individual sale, but the Hometown Roadway line sold poorly and was discontinued the following year. Everything in that line is now rare and expensive. (I did a Wooden Roadway Discussion on the McDonald's Drive-Thru Restaurant from that line.)
>goes back in time to "break that stupid dinosaur"
>doesn't just record footage of the table himself
Also having to sub in off-brand track pieces is a big mood.
I remember reading the 2009 twr yearbook and always wanting the roundhouse set. I Wonder
What they did to the ones at Barnes and noble.
0:50 omg I remember I was always jealous of that setup
As Someone who regulars Entertrainment Junction, I've seen the layout. though idk its origin.
5:09 didn't the Harold's Mail Delivery set from like 04 have those pieces
Also is the coal hopper actually yellow or is it just sunfaded
Also also 💀why does the works building have the shed roofs lol 12:00
Yes, the Harold's Mail Delivery set did have the 3 ½ inch Y-switches. I had no idea that Learning Curve made any when making that video, so that was a mistake that I made.
And I think that is a Yellow Coal Hopper. The table was indoors at all times, so I don't think it is a sunfaded coalhopper. I'm not too sure why they made a yellow coal hopper just for this set, though.
@@Andrew_I_Existtrue but the picture u showed at 12:29 shows the normal orange inside the coal hopper where the coal "belt" was, so idk lol
@ToastTheThe Hmm, I never noticed that. Maybe that coal hopper was supposed to be an orange one, but there was a factory error that made it yellow, and then the Toys R Us employees just said, "It's okay. No one will notice." I'm just guessing because I have no idea.
And in terms of the Work's building and its roofs, I have no idea why it's like that. I guess it just got built that particular way.
Wow, you really know your tracks. Too bad they don’t make those wooden railway displays. Not to mention, the kids ruining the sets.
They were definitely very cool indeed.
One of these layouts was found!
It was very cool to see that happen!
What interview is this pulled from at 0:48
abc30.com/autistic-autism-gemiini-system-laura-kasbar/447725/
There was also a massive table at the explore the rails event that I actually got to see irl
Maybe talking about the sexed road switches will save this video from becoming Made For Kids. But honestly from my experience once the AI see's anything that uses childrens characters or childrens toys there is no argument the system will accept to to stop the video from disappearing once it's set by UA-cam as Made For Kids. The system just loves to stamp on creators until they stop making content that uses things kids enjoy. I have tried swear words and adult themes in videos, nothing stops the busted AI from making life as a producer on UA-cam a misery now. You have gone to a lot of work to make this video and even thats no argument against the crap AI thats set to wreck your love of the site.
Have you tried Odysee? You dont have to post new videos. It automatically uploads your videos once its connected to UA-cam.
hi leo
I still have a photo of that table but sticker on the trains basically said property of toy r us and the train were often missing
Do you know if you have posted that image anywhere online, or if it's a physical photo?
I do have a physical photo but the lighting on the picture is bad but I think the big table was removed the summer of 2009
Could this be the same table that was used in the first 12 seconds of the TWR promo seen in some HiT Thomas DVD’s?
I would really like to see what HiT used to produce that layout featured in the promo.
The table is not the same and is different and it was a Amtrak TWR promo in the early 2000s
Nice! ❤
since entertrainment is closing soon, someone in the thomas community bought the entertrainment layout
So that's how Thomas Critical got the layout.
I noticed the cranky on the table is decapitated
They did make the y switch in 2001. I have a few
Which set was that from?
@@Andrew_I_Exist I have no idea, I got all most of my wooden stuff when I was 3 for Christmas. It was a huge lot with a bunch of track, a store display table, and a lot of trains! All learning curve stuff and there were some traction rail y switches
Those traction rail Y switches came from the Harold's Mail Delivery set, which I did not know about when I made the video.
@@Andrew_I_Exist yooo that’s sick! I still don’t really know all the sets I have, but it’s cool to find out about those!
Yeah, it's not for children.
even though it technically is!
Do you have a table set up?
I used to, back before I started my channel, but it's gone now.
@@Andrew_I_Exist Are you going to set one up again?
Maybe one day.
I went there twice
We burnt my old Thomas table with the tracks I still have the trains though
I had four different Thomas tables. One of them got burnt The other one we threw away Another one we gave it to Goodwill and the last one is sitting in the storage with a Mercedes
I understand why Little Kids And Toddlers (Some who have Disabilities) Really wanted to Play with The Wooden Railway Table so much, But I can’t stand it when they tear the pieces apart from the table itself! I wish parents can Control their Kids so they won’t tear the pieces apart from the Table at all!😕😕
I wish I could have played with this table too. It is what it is though when there are hundreds of kids playing with it.
IT GOT FOUND WATCH THOMAS CRITICAL
It got found indeed! It was really surprising to see that video suddenly on my recommendations.