A train set is a toy enjoyed by people of all ages. Dads act like little boys when they watch makeshift trains cross the different sections of the track. Kids cheer on as they hear the toy make its signature “choo! choo!” In your case, you can take full advantage of the thrill ride that a train set brings by making one yourself. Watch your family enjoy your mechanical toy en route to a lot of heartwarming family moments. Go and build your own train set.
Get on Track
You can easily construct a toy train set especially if you have heaps of unused toys and materials in your home’s storage room. You do not really need to create a train set that is as intricate and complex as those trains sold in toy stores. Instead, you can settle for egg cartons, toy parts and paint to create your toy train. You can make your train just as beautiful as sold trains, if you have a good hand for the arts. The best part is, you do not have to spend more than 20 bucks to produce such an item.
The train set’s engine is your only real purchase, along with the train tracks. The engines come in different sizes, depending on the size of your toy train. Since you will be using light materials for your train’s carts, a medium-sized engine should be enough. You can get a toy train engine in a toy store and it will cost you only about five bucks.
Materials Used:
egg carton
cardboard boxes/shoe boxes
tiny battery-operated bulb
24 toy wheels
old toy trucks
toy tracks
toy train engine
glue
masking tape
coloring materials
cutter
scissors
mechanical drill
small screws
10 plastic pegs (7 inches)
8 plastic pegs (3.5 inches)
pencil
paper
Visit Your Storage Room
Think of yourself as a participant in the popular game show “American Inventor.” Any item can be used as a component of your train set. The wheels of toy automobiles can be your train’s set of wheels, as long as they have the same width. The chimney of a toy house can be your toy caboose’s exhaust pipe. Of course, if you find a toy train there, your only assignment will be to purchase toy tracks and to affix the engine inside the train.
Check your Home’s Supply of Cardboard and Egg Cartons
Your toy train can be practically made of cardboard, unless you already find a toy train in your toy storage. You can assemble an egg carton and a couple of shoe boxes for the body of your carts, then get some glue, screws, a drill and a pair of scissors from your tool box. Also, get a pencil and a sheet of paper so that you can sketch the dimensions of your train and the tracks.
Purchase a Train Engine and Tracks
Go to a toy store and purchase a medium-sized train engine. You can consult the salesperson on the best train engine brand so that you will surely get a quality item. If you do not have a large stock of toys at home, purchase the plastic pegs and train wheels from the toy store as well. Once done, inquire about toy train tracks. You will be treated to quite a number of courses for your train. Select your favorite one, then you can go straight home and create your toy train.
The Train Outline
Sketch the toy train’s carts on a piece of paper with the dimensions. Keep in mind that the measurement of the tracks should be parallel to the width of your train’s carts and wheels. You can measure the width of your purchased toy track’s rail then determine the width of each cart and the wheels. Normally, a measurement of 7 x 3.5 inches for the carts is enough but double-check the measurement of the tracks, just to be sure.
The Front Cart
Get the egg carton and cut it accordingly — 7 x 3.5 inches is the ideal measurement. Make a hole on the front top portion of the carton. Roll a strip of cardboard that has a slightly larger circumference as the hole on the egg carton, to create the caboose’s exhaust pipe. Glue and tape the exhaust pipe on top of the hole. Once done, cut three arcs on each side of the front cart to accommodate the train’s wheels. Get a couple of 10-inch pegs and 8-inch pegs, then bore a hole at the end of each peg. Screw the pegs together then screw them to the front cart’s toy wheels. Get a couple more 10-inch pegs, then screw them to all three wheels per side of the front cart to create the train’s wheel connectors.
Once done, check if the wheels move smoothly. You can make minor adjustments with the screws and the screw placements if the wheels do not move freely.
The Passenger Carts
Get your shoe boxes and cut them to create the bodies of your train’s passenger carts (7 x 3 inches). Once done, cut out several strips of cardboard that will act as the roofs of your passenger carts. Glue and tape the roofs to the carts.
Get the remaining plastic pegs and toy wheels then connect them just like what you did with the front cart (minus the wheel connectors). When you’re done, glue and tape the bodies of the passenger carts to the assembled pegs.
Install the Train Engine
Get the manual for your train’s engine to check the specs and dimension of the engine. Usually, the engine comes with connectors to the wheels and the exhaust pipe of your train. Just hook-up the connectors to the prescribed parts of your train, then your toy train set will be up and running. Now, you can get your painting/coloring materials and make your train a treat for sore eyes.
Additional Options
If you want your train to go through multiple routes, you can buy a separate engine for your train tracks. The track engine will power the tracks to switch courses automatically. You can also use your toy houses, buildings, people and vehicles to recreate an entire city around your toy train. Talk about playing Sim City without adding charges to your electric bill.
A toy train set is not just a toy but also a family item. Every member of your family will surely have memorable moments with your toy train. As they say: the family that plays together, stays together.