The Melissa & Doug Swivel Bridge Train Set
is one that I really enjoy. With 40 pieces of track, including a raised section with a bridge that swivels, this is a fun track for children. Of all of the different sets that my son has, he enjoys this one the most because of the bridge. It also comes with an engine, coal car, and a caboose; as well as several wood cut outs including a train engineer figure.
The set itself is well made with pieces that fit easily together and have sufficient “play” in the joints to allow the track to flex a bit, which is nice for custom layouts. The track pieces all feel smooth and well sanded. One minor complaint I have with the swivel bridge piece is that when you or your child turns the bridge to lock it back into place, the force of doing so can move the piece just a bit, pulling the connecting raised track pieces off of the risers a small amount. This can lead to having a frustrated child on your hands.
The train engine and cars themselves with the Melissa & Doug Swivel Bridge Train Set are well made and derailments are not too common with normal play. The engine does have a design flaw though in that the piece of wood used for the engine is slightly too large to be able to pass freely on tracks running under elevated track pieces. The smoke stack actually sticks up too high and catches on the above track. I know this is a design issue and not just a fluke because our son was actually given two of these sets and both engines are the same way. I was able to fix the problem by simply using a garden pruner to trim off some of the plastic smoke stack. The strange thing about this little design issue is that the engine included in the Melissa and Doug Figure Eight set does not suffer from the same problem. The engines from both sets appear identical except for the fact that the Swivel Bridge engine is a slightly larger piece of wood.
I mentioned above that our son has two of the Melissa & Doug Swivel Bridge Train Set. Well the nice thing about wooden train sets is that you can configure them however you like and don’t need to follow the suggested layouts included in the box. So, if you’ve got more than one of the same set, it doesn’t matter, you’ve just got more layout design options now.
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