Bought this train for our son aged 3, and he loved it! We bought cheap batteries at first and it did go through them quickly but purchased some name-brand ones and they are going strong. The engine needs 2 AA batteries. My son loves playing with it on our Ikea train tracks. It's been a great investment so far. It's different from the Thomas trains and more modern looking. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this little train, we researched quite a few battery trains and this one came out with the best reviews as some of the other trains were either too long so fell off the track on the corners or were a bit wide and struggled with tunnels, etc.