My late Grandad Bert worked on the railways all his life, and one of my memories of him is seeing the miniature train set he had running in his attic.

It’s not a toy I ever had as a child, but I’m still fascinated by train sets in the physical world. And intrigued by the idea of how apps – like the new Dada Trains – might develop the idea in the digital world too.

It was released in December by developer Dada Company, which has made a series of great apps over recent years. This one is all about trains, with several different sections.

First, the app shows children how a steam train works, even letting them ring its bell. Second, there’s a train factory where they can create their own. “Travel in various scenarios and complete different challenges until you arrive at your destination, Rainbow Station,” explains the App Store listing.

Then there’s a playground section: “Create stories as you advance through different scenarios, discover hidden characters, overcome obstacles and explore fantastic worlds full of surprises.”

Dada isn’t done yet. A simulator mode gets children to try their hand as a train engineer, with a camera-based feature that sees them driving through various weather conditions. And finally, there’s a drawing and digital-stickers mode to tap their creativity further.

It’s a wonderful mix of ideas, with Dada having hired a selection of illustrators to stamp their own styles on different bits of the app. Whether your children are train-mad already or not, they’ll find lots to fascinate them here: it’s first-class!

Dada Trains costs £2.99 for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store.

• Read about more Dada Company apps for kids on Apps Playground