Start an exciting model railway journey with ‘Flash’, ‘Bolt’ and ‘Thunder’.

We take a look at the Playtrains system announced by Hornby as part of their 2021 range.

Playtrains by Hornby is toy train system  aimed specifically at youngsters just starting out on their first railway adventures. Playtrains is now available so place your order now by clicking the links below. 

The system comprises of battery operated and remote-controlled locomotives complete with working lights, three speeds in both forwards and reverse, plus multiple sounds. With easy clip together track, a TrakMat, accessories such as facial expression stickers, ‘Quickbuild’ card station and tunnel, the initial ‘Flash’ train set can be further expanded with several track extension packs including points. A one stop shop for all things Playtrains with fun and exiting features along with character stories is available via Hornby Playtrains Portal here>>>


An easy-to-use remote control can be simply switched to a train using the A/B switch underneath the controller, ensure that the train being run matches to A/B, then off you go. A second remote controller is available to enable twice the fun at the same time! 

For those wondering the trains have an Italian flavour ‘Flash’ is based on the “.italo” high speed train, whilst ‘Bolt’ and ‘Thunder’ are similar to the Ferrovile dello Stato (FS), Italian State Railways, E.402A class locomotives. 

 ‘Flash’ The Local Express Train set. 

This complete set includes ‘Flash’ the passenger train, an oval of track, a TrakMat, remote control and a cardboard station and tunnel. Unfortunatley this set is now SOLD OUT but if your young enthusiast already has Flash, the additonal train and track packs below are still available and make ideal top up presents.

Moving the goods with ‘Bolt’ and ‘Thunder’.

These additional train packs with locomotives and additional wagons can be run alongside ‘Flash’ perhaps bringing the pasta and meatballs…
R9312 Hornby Playtrains ‘Bolt’ Express Goods Battery Train Pack comprising of ‘Bolt’ and two closed wagons. £32.99
R9314 Hornby Playtrains 'Thunder' Express Goods Battery Train Pack comprising of ‘Thunder’ and one closed wagon. £25.99
Extend 'Bolt' or 'Thunder' with the R9316 Hornby Playtrains Express Goods 2 Closed Wagon Pack. £17.49
'Bolt' or 'Thunder' can also haul the R9341 Hornby Playtrains Express Goods 2 Open Wagon Pack. £17.49

Build and expand the Playtrains world and layout with the Track extension packs and a second controller to double the fun.




R9335 Track Extension Pack 2. Contents include: 1 x L/H Point, 1 x R/H Point, 2 x Double Straights, 2 x Buffer Stop £20.49

R9336 Track Extension Pack 3. Contents include: 1 x L/H Point, 1 x R/H Point, 2 x ½ Curves, 4 x 2nd size Large Curves £20.49

R9337 Track Extension Pack 4. Contents include: 1 x L/H Point, 1 x R/H Point, 2 x Double Straights, 4 x No. 2 Large Curves £21.99

The expanding world of Playtrains...

Look out in the future for more characters via additional train sets and train packs, more ‘Quickbuild’ buildings and accessories, to give more adventures and more fun. Playtrains will become a key, expanding and evolving part of the Hornby range for years to come introducing new generations to railway modelling.

Keep in Touch

We also publish regular project updates on our "Latest News" section here and also in our Weekly newsletter, if you are not  already signed up for the newsletter you can do so here.

For general email enquiries, order tracking etc, please use the Contact Us section of our website as usual.

Back to KMRC Skrifa Index

Return to Page Top