Thomas keeps on tooting.

• Position: What's new? Holiday gifts galore - Thomas the Tank Engine toys

Each year, when it comes time to pick children's toys for this column, the Thomas the Tank Engine collection from Learning Curve International, Chicago, always makes the list. The wooden railroad with all the beloved characters from the Island of Sodor keeps on expanding, adding trains and accessories, so that the set grows with the child, both sprawling over the floor to share new adventures. This year is no exception.

Thomas himself has taken on cold-weather guise, the Thomas Winter Wonderland Train ($19.99), with a snowplow on its front to get through the drifts with his cargo of Christmas presents and an icicle-laden caboose. Joining him are new vehicles George the Steamroller, Caroline the Car, and Thumper, who has "thumping arms" to move rocks out of the way as the railway carves out new territory ($9.99-14.99 apiece), while Ivo Hugh, the circus engine that pulls a car with a hippo basking in its pool and another with monkeys behind a sliding cage door, is $19.99.

The railroad has an assortment of new buildings and sets, headed by Down by the Docks ($149), which features a lighthouse, dock, the Sodor Bay Bridge, Bulstrode the Barge, Cranky the Crane, and 40 pieces of track and other accessories, all of which can be laid out on a folding waterfront playmat. The Honey Depot ($39.99) comes with two jars of honey that load onto a barrel car when the roof is pushed down, which also causes a hive full of "live" bees to start buzzing around a honeycomb. The Rescue Hospital ($49.99) has a rooftop pad for Harold the Helicopter to land on as he shuttles patients to the facility. When he does, the hospital's doors fly open and an ambulance rolls down the ramp. The Musical Carousel ($49.99) rotates and plays "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" when it's wound...