*** Before I write this review, I noticed that the picture currently in the catalogue shows an interactive train, which is not the train that we own. I have asked dooyoo to change the picture here to the correct one for the product listed. ***


Chuggington is a popular TV series shown on the cbeebies channel that shows life in the town of Chuggington, which is populated by a collection of trains and a few people. My sons have never been Thomas fans really, so when they were quite fond of this show, I suggested to my mum that she might want to choose some items from the show for Christmas presents for my children. We have owned these Diecast engines for nearly two years now, as they were bought for my eldest son when he was 4 years old.

Old Puffer Pete is quite a distinct character in the show. He is a really old steam engine, and though he gets quite confused, he features quite a lot in the show, and because he is quite a funny character, no set of trains would be complete without him. To buy your own Puffer Pete, he is currently £4.99 on amazon, though I have seen him in shops for £3.99.

The chuggington trains are all diecast, with metal bodies and plastic bases and wheels. Each engine has couplings which connect to each other. These are plastic joints a bit like a ball and socket, so you can link any chuggington train to another. Puffer Pete looks quite distinctive as his body is all black with some gold and red detailing. He has quite a short cab section, then a long body with a funnel. The headlights are plain black and are on the front of the body section. I always think these look a bit like glasses and because his eyes are a little droopy and half closed, it always looks to me a little like an older gentleman who is squinting through glasses perched on the end of his nose.

The trains are quite hard wearing. None of the plastic bits have snapped off or failed in any way, and most of the engines are still in great condition. With this one I have noticed that some of the red paint around the edge of his roof has started to chip in places, the black paint is still immaculate. The gold paint has worn on the front funnel.

The chuggington models are all pretty similar in scale so that they can work with any set. This one is about 4 inches long by 1.5 inchs wide and almost 2 inches tall at the cab end. It runs well on the Roundhouse track that we own, and I found that they also run on a Brio style wooden track that we got from IKEA many years ago. This size is also pretty good for a toddler to hold in their hand when they are playing.

I find that the wheels on these turn smoothly when they are pushed on a hard surface or the track, and that the play experience is pretty satisfying. My sons seem to enjoy making a long train out of all these engines and pulling it around either on my laminate floor or on a track they have created themselves. Sometimes they make them all into one great big circle, and other times I hear them recreating some of the things they have seen in the show.

While Pete is not one of the main characters in this show, I do think that he is central enough to make him important for any collection.