Care & Safety

Recommended for ages three and up. Every piece contains small parts — turned wheels, brass couplers, loose birch logs and removable letter blocks — and is not intended for children under three.

That grading is about the small parts, not about durability. Supervise children under three around any of it.

Wipe with a barely damp cloth and dry it straight away. Never submerge a piece, never put one in a dishwasher, and keep them out of direct sun on a windowsill for weeks at a time.

The finish is a plant-based hardwax oil that soaks in rather than forming a film, so it cannot chip or peel. After a few years of hard use it will look dry and pale.

Sand lightly along the grain with 400 grit, wipe on a thin coat of any food-safe hardwax oil, leave it twenty minutes and wipe every trace of it back off. It will look new. We will also do it for you for the cost of shipping.

Solid North American black walnut, hard maple, American cherry, white oak and birch. Brass and steel hardware. Milk paint on the caboose. No plywood, MDF, particleboard, veneer or tropical species, and no lacquer or polyurethane anywhere.