About Iron Arry and Iron Bert

Iron 'Arry and Iron Bert are typical diesel engines in that they are or mean and don't like steam engines. They do like to work as long as they are in the smelting yard taking apart 'steamies'.

The two trains are both gray and yellow. One of them has a beard and mustache -- Thomas and friends creators must really be branching out.

I really like to give Thomas the tank engine toys as gifts, especially to kids that have not yet discovered him. The videos and dvds, though not flashy, are fascinating to toddlers and preschoolers. The trains are high-quality and come with an unconditional, life-time guarantee and really promote children's imagination. Simple sets are available at affordable prices, while expansion track and several dozens of trains can be added for extensive play.

Thomas the tank engine is the main figure of all the Thomas toys but his friends are equally popular and played with. Besides trains and track there are hundreds of accessories and thomas related items like clothing and videos and books and even collectibles - each train even comes with a small identifier card like a baseball card for trains. Babies and very young children are even amused by Thomas push trains and pullbacks and shape sorters and other colorful musical toys. The original train stories were hand drawn by a father for his son and only recently adapted for mass production.

My son has several Thomas the tank engine vcr tapes and dvd stories. The first time I saw one, I thought it was really dumb, because almost nothing happens in the video. It's narrated, the engines' eyes move, and they run along the tracks - and thet's about it, there's no more action than that. These days, Joe spends a lot of time playing out the scenes he saw on the tapes on his train table, or pretending he and I are trains and we are friends and talking to each other in the shed.

The metal Thomas train sets are good for taking along on trips and travel. They are the smallest trains you can get but they are rather heavy for their size, being metal. We take whole sets with us when we go camping or to hotels and set them up for Joe to play with while we are in the room. On a recent trip room I took two engines and two freight cars in my fanny pack and pulled them out for Joe play with both on the plane and while we were waiting to board the plane - they kept him happily occupied.

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