This train set may seem a bit expensive to some but I think it is worth the price it sells for. The RRP is £55 on the Hornby website though Amazon claims it is worth £75 and they are selling it for £58! We snapped ours up at a toy shop closing down sale for £40 and I think that's the absolute cheapest you can get this for.


It is suitable for ages 3+ though really it does require adult supervision while in use for under 5 or 6 year olds. An adult needs to assemble the track too because it's quite intricate. There are several long and thin pieces of electric track in the set that need to be slotted together just right so that the electricity can flow through them.


Next there is a transformer and control box that needs hooking up by plugging it into both the track and a power supply. There is a track mat included which is a plastic mat with a scenery design painted on it but we didn't use this because it does not lay flat. Therefore making it almost impossible to run the trains on the track on top of it because it won't stay flat!


Finally there is a beautiful little Thomas the Tank Engine. It's solid, really well constructed and quite weighty too. He has coaches Annie and Clarabel in a thinner plastic fashion to attach to him included in the set.


This is a beautiful set to watch running around the track. My grandson is absolutely delighted with this and loves being able to control how fast Thomas goes. There are a couple of drawbacks too though. Firstly, you absolutely must use this on a flat surface like a kitchen table or hard floor. The track can only be set up one way and that way covers 1.2m by .9m so this means you need an extremely large flat clear area to use it.


The other problem is that Annie and Clarabel attach to Thomas loosely by just being hooked on with tiny plastic hooks. Not only is this fiddly but they are always coming loose.


Despite this little grumbles, this is a gorgeous first train set for any train enthusiast or Thomas the Tank Engine fan. I think it's quite a fair price at £55 because the actual track and engine is really well made and this is a brand name product on two counts as well. You can get loads of extras to add to this set by either buying the Hornby Thomas bits or by opting for the Hornby Skaledale add ons. Over the years we will probably build on this for our Grandson and I can see it staying with him for years to come.