Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway, Merrick and The Rock Crusher

I almost gave this 2 stars because as the other reviews state, when I first put it together, Merrick was very unsteady and kept falling over. He comes with only one side supported, and it seems the other side is supposed to rest on a ledge against the tracks. Any little bump or movement on the tracks and he falls over. It took a little while to figure out how to fully fit the Merrick piece into the groove for him; you have to really push the pieces together and they will finally click together. Now that it is put together, it is very stable. Great quality and can already tell it will get a lot of use!

Everything great

We bought our 2.5 year old son this set for Christmas despite the reviews as he is obsessed with BMQ and Merrick. Once Merrick is snapped into place I don't feel it comes off too easily. My son can take apart, and does frequently. He can also snap it back together so it doesn't seem to frustrate him. Also, he likes to put Merrick in his backpack and bed lol so that has worked in our favor. The set is bright, colorful and sturdy. We think it's a good addition to our wooden sets. Especially if your kid loves the BMQ crew.

Product brand new delivered in a tattered box falling apart and literally opening at the seems. For the price buy a box big enough to ship items.

This set has two pieces aside from tracks and trains, Merrick and a rock crusher. As the other reviewers stated Merrick doesn't stay connected if bumped at all. Also, the rock crusher doesn't work very well. Buy a cheaper set like the coal hopper, and put the extra money you saved into expansion packs or trains. I completely regret wasting my money on this set. Lesson learned I suppose.

We love this addition. Two stops make it a fun never ending loop (although we added it to a large set that spans my living room). Pick up a load of crushed rocks which tip into your cargo car, then up to Merrick to unload it, then off to the next destination.A recurring complaint I see here is that Merrick tips over easily. Did you know that he snaps in??? Put him on a solid surface, insert the tab in the slot and push until it clicks. Works very well for us, no complaints.

Merrick is supposed to stay in place by this little ledge that fits into a shallow channel. Way too wobbly and frustrating for a 3 year old.

I bought this for my 2 year old for Christmas. He loves it and enjoys playing with Merrick. We haven't had any difficulty with Merrick staying in place. He snaps on pretty well and doesn't move on our set. The problem I have with this set is that there is no way to keep the trains from flying off the track as they go down the mountain. The curves are much too sharp. If you add about an extra foot of straight track in each side then maybe the trains will stay on, but that's only possible if you have enough extra pieces and if you place the set on the floor as it makes the track very long. My son doesn't seem to mind though so I don't feel like I wasted my money. However, I did purchase this at a deeply discounted price and if I had spent more, I might feel differently.