Fun With Trains Bolton

20/03/2026

As part of the TrackPlay world, we can also offer this service in the north of England. Please get in touch with us here on Facebook and we can arrange it with you. As a side note every 1:00pm - 2:30pm session at our events is our SEND session as we do a slightly different session set-up.

💛 Did you know that SEND support is at the heart of what we do?
We’re incredibly proud to work alongside charities and businesses to create SEND-friendly events — and honestly, they mean the world to us. Seeing the joy, confidence and smiles these sessions bring to children (and their grown-ups!) is exactly why we do what we do.

Creating a space where every child feels safe, included and free to play in their own way isn’t just important to us — it’s something we truly care about.
If you’re interested in organising a SEND-friendly event, we’d love to chat and see how we can support you.
📩 Message us here or get in touch via our contact form: https://www.trackplay.co.uk/contact

🌈 We also run SEN-friendly sessions within our events.
Our 12:50 – 1:50 session is thoughtfully adapted with:
• Smaller group sizes
• Lowered music levels
• A calm, relaxed and welcoming environment

So you and your child(ren) can enjoy the experience comfortably, at your own pace.
Because every child deserves the chance to play, explore and feel included.

20/03/2026

🌸 Light, Life, and a New Fire for Whistle! ✨

The shed doors are thrown wide open today to welcome the sunshine! It’s a very special double-celebration on the railway as we mark both the Spring Equinox and Eid.

Welcoming the Light:
🔧 For Neil, today is about the Equinox. He’s spent the morning doing a ritual spring clean of Whistle’s firebox, sweeping out the winter ash. He just struck the match for a fresh, intentional fire to welcome the return of the lighter half of the year. (He has also firmly promised Emily that a proper spring clean of the rest of the shed will definitely happen "tomorrow"!)

The Feast:
📋 To celebrate Eid, Emily has arrived loaded with an absolute mountain of sweet treats and pastries to share. The workbench has been completely cleared of spanners and is now a dedicated buffet zone! Just a fair warning to the crew: there is absolutely zero chocolate on that table. Emily has given it up for Lent, and since it isn't Easter yet, she's firmly banned it from the premises to avoid temptation!

🦕 Willow is carefully arranging a jar of spring daffodils on the bench, though they are highly distracted by the smell of the honey and pistachios.

🐾 And Smokey? Nature is healing. She is currently fast asleep in a sunbeam, covered in a very suspicious, light dusting of icing sugar.

🟠 Whistle is basking in the open doorway, her bright orange paint glowing. As Neil struck the match inside her firebox, she let out a deep, contented sigh of steam. She’s ready for the new season.

Whether you are celebrating Eid Mubarak, a blessed Ostara, or just enjoying the spring sunshine, we send you all our love from the shed! 🚂🌻🌙

18/03/2026

🚂 Light at the End of the Tunnel! ✨

After a really tough few days in the shed, we finally have a reason to get the boiler fired up again. We are thrilled to announce we’re back to work this weekend for a private birthday party for one of our favorite regular Little Engineers!

The atmosphere in the shed has completely transformed overnight:

📋 Emily is back in her element. The clipboard has returned, and she is gleefully drawing up a highly detailed, minute-by-minute party timetable.

🔧 Neil has a massive smile on his face. He is elbow-deep in the workbench, testing every single Plarail motor to make sure the fleet is running at absolute top speed for the birthday boy.

🦕 Willow is practically vibrating with excitement, happily loading the transport crates with our best blue track and designing a top-secret birthday spiral.

🟠 Whistle is feeling the energy, too! She’s simmering happily in Bay 1, letting out warm, cheerful puffs of steam. Her orange paint looks brighter than it has all week.

🐾 And Smokey? Nature is healing. She has officially abandoned her quiet, supportive behavior and is currently trying to wrestle a roll of birthday wrapping paper to the shed floor.

Thank you all for keeping our spirits up this week. The fire is lit, and we are ready to roll! 🎈💙

16/03/2026

Spaces for Play & Café this Morning ☕️

Head down for our morning session 09:30-11:00

13/03/2026

🚂 You Asked, We Listened: Sundays are for Trains! 🏁

After looking at our "timetables" and chatting with so many of you, the message was clear—Sundays are the ultimate family day! So, we are officially doubling down on our Sunday Takeovers for April. 🏰✨

We are bringing 500ft of track, over 100 trains, and our epic rollercoaster to two fantastic locations. Which one will you be joining us at?

📍 STATION 1: Egerton (Our Home Turf!)
🗓️ Sunday, 19th April
🏰 Walmsley Parish Church Hall, BL7 9SA

📍 STATION 2: Middleton (Manchester Takeover!)
🗓️ Sunday, 26th April
🏰 Alkrington Community Centre, M24 1TQ

What’s waiting for the mini-engineers?
🎢 Double the Rides: The train rollercoaster AND the ride-on train will be ready for action (strictly for ages 6 and under).
🚂 Massive Layouts: 500ft of winding track featuring all the favorite Thomas & Friends characters.
☕ Station Master Fuel: We’ll have tea, coffee, and refreshments available for purchase so the grown-ups can relax while the kids run the rails.
🧹 The Parent Win: 90 minutes of pure, screen-free fun—and we handle every single piece of track at the end!

Session Times for both dates:
🕒 09:30 – 11:00 | 🕒 11:15 – 12:45 | 🕒 13:00 – 14:30 (SEND Session)

Spaces for our Sunday sessions always move fast! You can secure your spot via the links in the comments below. 👇

📢 We need your help! Please help us make these events as great as possible by sharing this post far and wide. Tag a friend who needs a stress-free Sunday or share to your local groups—your support keeps our little engine running! ❤️🙌

12/03/2026

🎫 A Tough Call on the Timetable

This weekend was supposed to be event day, but the shed doors will be staying firmly shut. We want to be completely transparent about why, and what it means going forward.

Running this railway is our absolute passion, but it’s fueled by our "real-world" day jobs. In the past, if an event had low ticket numbers, Emily and Neil would dive into their own pockets to cover the venue hire, transport, and logistics.

But as we shared recently, Neil has lost his main job. That financial buffer is gone. We simply cannot afford to bankroll events that don't cover their basic running costs anymore. Because of this, we had to make the heartbreaking call to cancel this weekend. We also need to be upfront: any future events with low ticket sales will sadly have to go the same way.

How You Can Help Keep the Steam Up:
This is where we need our amazing community more than ever. If you want to see us steam into your town, we need your help to pack the platforms!

Spread the word: Share our event posts, tag your friends, and tell your local community groups.

Book early: Early ticket sales let us know an event is safe to run and helps us cover upfront venue deposits.

Every single share and early booking acts like a fresh shovel of coal. Right now, Willow is unpacking the Plarail boxes, Whistle is resting her bright orange paint in the shadows, and Smokey is offering quiet support on the workbench.

With your help, we won’t have to keep the shed doors closed for long. Thank you for always having our backs! 🚂💙

11/03/2026

🚂 Back Where It All Began! Egerton: Sunday, 19th April 🏠🚩

After the "timetable tweak" last week, we’ve decided to head back to our home station for our next event! We are so excited to be back at Walmsley Parish Church Hall on Sunday, 19th April.

You told us loud and clear that Sundays are your favorite day for a "Train Takeover," so we’ve cleared the tracks and made sure our home venue is ready for a massive day of play! 🏰✨

What’s waiting for you on our home turf?
🎢 Double the Rides: The train rollercoaster AND ride-on train will be out in full force (strictly for our mini-engineers aged 6 and under).
🚂 500ft of Track: Our massive layout is taking over the hall with every Thomas character you can imagine.
☕ Station Master Fuel: The kettle will be on! Tea, coffee, and refreshments will be available for purchase so you can relax while they run the rails.
🧹 Stress-Free Sunday: 90 minutes of pure, screen-free fun—and we handle every single piece of track at the end!

Session Times:

🕒 09:30 – 11:00: General Session

🕒 11:15 – 12:45: General Session

🕒 13:00 – 14:30: SEND Session (Quiet & Relaxed)

📍 Location: Walmsley Parish Church Hall, Blackburn Rd, Egerton, Bolton, BL7 9SA

We can’t wait to see our "home crowd" again! You can secure your spot via the link in the comments below. 👇

📢 A little favor from us: As a small family business, we rely on word of mouth to keep our little engine running! Please help us make this event as great as possible by sharing this post far and wide with your friends, family, and local groups. Your support means the world to us! ❤️

10/03/2026

Banking the Fire: A Shed Update

​You might have noticed the shed doors have been firmly shut lately. We owe you an honest update.

​The truth is, the "real world" has thrown a heavy curveball our way. As much as we fiercely wish running this railway was our full-time career, it’s a passion project supported by our day jobs. Recently, Neil unexpectedly lost his main full-time job.

​It’s been an incredibly stressful time, and the shed has been quiet while we process it. But the crew has rallied around him.

​Willow has been a silent comfort, resting a heavy, reassuring hand on Neil’s shoulder at the workbench.
​Whistle hasn't complained about her polish once, simply simmering quietly in her orange paint to keep the shed warm.

​Even Smokey has paused her sabotage, upgrading her title to 'Chief Therapy Kitten' and refusing to leave Neil’s lap.

​We are recalibrating our timetable and figuring out our next steps. Thank you for waiting on the platform for us while we build our steam back up. ❤️

09/03/2026

A quick but difficult update about this weekend’s Fun With Trains session 🚂

This is never a post I enjoy writing.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to make the difficult decision to cancel the Fun With Trains session planned for this weekend.
At the moment we only have 7 tickets booked, and with just 6 days to go I sadly can’t confirm that we’ll be able to cover the cost of the venue.

Because Fun With Trains is a mobile stay-and-play, every session involves hiring community halls and transporting the whole railway setup with us. The venue costs have to be committed to in advance, so with bookings this low it simply isn’t something I can responsibly go ahead with this time.

I’m genuinely really disappointed. I always look forward to seeing our little engineers building tracks, driving trains and having fun together, so cancelling a session is never an easy decision.

If you were one of the families who booked thank you so much for your support.

Please keep an eye on your email, as I’ve sent further information about your booking.

Our next Fun With Trains session will be on Sunday 19th April at Walmsley Parish Community Hall in Egerton, and I would absolutely love to see lots of our little engineers there.

Early bookings make a huge difference for small mobile events like this, so thank you to everyone who books ahead and helps make these sessions possible.

Thank you for understanding and continuing to support a small local business. 🚂

Emily
Fun With Trains Bolton

08/03/2026

🚂 Saturday vs. Sunday: We Need Your Advice! 🗓️
We’ve been doing some "timetable checking" behind the scenes, and we’ve noticed a bit of a pattern! 🧐

Our upcoming Sunday events (like Middleton in April) are already seeing double-figure bookings, but our visit to Atherton this Saturday (14th March) is currently sitting in single figures. As a small family business, we really want to make sure we’re pulling into the station at the time that works best for you.

We’d love to gauge your opinions:
👉 Do Saturdays feel too "busy" with kids' sports, swimming, and birthday parties?
👉 Is Sunday your preferred "Family Day" for getting out of the house?
👉 Or is it just a case of "last-minute" booking for Saturdays?

The Reality Check: We love bringing our 500ft track and rollercoaster to you, but with sales where they are for this weekend, we’re currently looking at running our Atherton event at a loss. We’d hate to miss out on seeing you all, so we’re trying to figure out if we should stick to Sundays in the future!

If you ARE planning on coming to Atherton this Saturday (14th March):
We would love it if you could grab your tickets today! We’ll be at Chowbent Unitarian Chapel with:
✅ 500ft of track & 100+ trains.
✅ Train Rollercoaster & Ride-ons (Both for ages 6 and under!).
✅ Tea, coffee, and refreshments available for purchase. ☕

Let us know your thoughts in the comments—Saturday or Sunday? Which team are you on? 👇

08/03/2026

🌸 Happy International Women’s Day from the Shed! 🚂

Today, we’re putting the spanners down to celebrate the absolute driving forces of our railway: our leading ladies. Without them, we’d just be a bunch of disorganized mechanics surrounded by cold water and unpolished brass!

The Mastermind:
Emily isn't just our Station Master; she’s the glue holding this beautiful chaos together. Armed with her indestructible clipboard, she manages complex timetables, a prehistoric track-layer, a kitten with a penchant for sabotage, and a Chief Engineer who regularly misplaces his wrenches. She’s the brains, the voice, and the undisputed boss of the platform.

The Queen of Steam:
And then there’s Whistle. Our LMS Mogul might be forged from iron and steel, but she is undeniably the matriarch of the rails. She commands respect, demands the finest polish for her stunning orange paintwork, and absolutely will not build pressure unless she’s spoken to with the proper reverence. Neil might turn the valves, but Whistle decides when we move.

Mutual Respect:
This morning, Emily walked up to Whistle’s cab, gave that gleaming orange metalwork an affectionate pat, and received a warm, gentle hiss of steam in return. Real recognizes real.

Even Smokey (our resident female "Shed Kaiju") is celebrating by not knocking over Emily’s morning tea. Now that is sisterhood!

Here’s to the women who keep us on track! 🥂