Thomas train set for a two year old

[silly moo]

My two year old nephew has, without any prompting from his parents, become a Thomas the Tank Engine fanatic and I would like to get him a well made, safe, preferably wooden, Thomas set.

My children are grown up and I don't have much experience of buying for toddlers. I immediately thought of Brio and had a look on eBay, it seems as though there are quite a few makes of wooden train sets with varying prices. There are also quite a few secondhand sets but the locos would probably need touching up with a child safe paint.

I may be able to find something here in South Africa but I am a bit wary of cheap Chinese toys which we get in abundance.

Could anyone with experience of these toys give me some pointers.

[Brooksy]

My boy absolute loved his Thomas wooden train set between the ages of 2 to 4 - Lego is taking over now so it hasn't been out for a while. I much prefer the Thomas sets to Brio as they have sort of sleepers and ballast in the track and it looks that little bit more realistic, although he probably didn't care at all. Bigjigs also so some nice sets but again it's not Thomas. A good starter set with Thomas is something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thomas-Friends-Wooden-Railway-Hopper/dp/B00A6SLOFQ

Thomas is a little bit more expensive than the other brands but worth it my opinion. I did pick up a few second hand items on an internet market place and you do have to study the photos carefully as some are better than others. I think that minor chips aren't really a problem because once they've been in the hands of a two-year old for a couple of weeks they are going to be chipped anyway.

[Tank]

I'd recommend the Thomas Take and Play range.  My 5 and 2 year old love it!  I always buy them secondhand as it can be expensive (like anything Thomas related).

[Vonk]

Keep an eye in Aldi as we have bought their version for my nephew and it is compatible with Brio and just as well built. He has a huge amount mainly bought off ebay but it often takes up the whole lounge floor at my sister's house. Good news is he is train mad 

[Ozymandias]

For that age, Brio all the way! You can get lots of accessories and all the characters.

As they get older, the Trackmaster range is very good. My eldest (er, Thomas!) loved it.