The Best RC Train Sets

1. Recommended Age

Age recommendations are always important to follow when you’re buying gear and toys for the kiddos, because it’s there to keep them safe and make sure they’re having fun. Items designed for a younger child won’t interest big kids, but littles may be unsafe or feel frustrated while trying to tackle toys made for older kids or teens. Following these recommendations is a good starting point for avoiding buyer’s regret, because even good toys aren’t good if they’re not fun and safe for a child.

2. Size

Train sets can be expansive or compact – some of the picks on our list are single unit train cars or engines, while others come with tracks to create a set or connect to others. The smaller picks are great for kids who already have a collection and are looking to add on, while a larger set is a good starting point for beginners. Regardless of what you’re looking for, dimensions may be important to your choice.

3. Colors

Real trains come in many colors, and so do toy trains – if your child already has a serious collection, chances are it has a bit of an aesthetic they’re trying to maintain, so you may be trying to purchase within those parameters. If they’re not, you might be looking to find replica items or ones that look a specific way, so knowing the colors as well as any possible variations can be pertinent in these cases.

4. Special Themes

It’s not present in every item here, but some of these sets feature a special theme – a Thomas the Tank Engine design, LEGO John Deere and others. These sets tend to be one-offs or collector’s editions rather than parts of a full train system, which may or may not appeal to you depending on your child’s preferences.

5. Batteries

Like all RCs, RC trains require a source of power. The battery situation with kids RCs can be a little confusing at first, because some of them come with a rechargeable battery for the car but no remote batteries, some come with batteries for both and some come with no batteries at all. RC toys aren’t much fun when you can’t operate them, so knowing what you’ll need and keeping it on hand will spare you major frustration.

6. Includes Tracks

Bear with us while we explain this one. Not every RC train actually NEEDS tracks, but of the ones that do, some include them and some do not. The ones that need tracks but don’t include them are generally intended to be part of a larger system. For the purpose of our list, we’ll tell you if the train does or does not include tracks, but if it doesn’t NEED tracks at all, we’ll tell you that too, to avoid confusion.