How to Draw a Train (Easy Step-by-Step for Kids)
To draw a train, start with a long rounded boiler. Add a tall cab with a window, then a chimney and a cowcatcher. Finish with three wheels and three puffs of smoke.
- Steps
- 6 easy steps
- You need
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Black marker
- Blue, yellow, red, dark gray and light gray crayons
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Teaching this to a class?
Show one step at a time on the board and wait for the class before the next. The directed drawing for kids page explains how to run it.
How to draw a train step by step
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Step 1 of 6: Draw a long rounded boiler lying sideways, like a capsule.
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Step 2 of 6: Add a tall cab with a flat roof and a square window on the left. Erase the boiler lines inside it.
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Step 3 of 6: Draw a chimney with a wide cap on the front of the boiler and a slanted cowcatcher with two lines.
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Step 4 of 6: Add three round wheels with hubs, joined by a bar. Erase the lines where the wheels cover them.
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Step 5 of 6: Draw three puffy smoke clouds rising from the chimney, each one bigger than the last.
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Step 6 of 6: Color cab blue, window yellow, boiler red, rest dark gray, hubs and bar light gray. Smoke is white.
Tips for little artists
Tip: Press lightly with the pencil first. Trace the lines you like with the marker, then erase the rest.
Tip: Make the cab taller than the chimney so the train looks strong.
Tip: Draw the back wheel the biggest and the front wheel the smallest.
Make it yours
Train with cars
Draw two box cars behind the cab, each with two wheels.
Train on tracks
Draw two long lines under the wheels with short bars across them.
Holiday train
Draw a small gift box on top of the cab and a wreath on the front.
Common mistakes and easy fixes
The wheels float
Draw each wheel so its top part overlaps the bottom of the train.
The chimney leans
Draw the chimney straight up from the top line of the boiler.
The smoke looks like a cloud blob
Draw three separate puffs with small gaps between them.
Fun facts about the train
The John Bull steam locomotive was built in 1831 and pulled passengers and cargo between Philadelphia and New York for 35 years. (Source: Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
The John Bull steam locomotive pulled its trains at 25 to 30 miles per hour. (Source: Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
Leland Stanford drove a golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869, to complete the transcontinental railroad. (Source: Library of Congress)
Questions grown-ups ask
How to draw a train easy?
Draw a long rounded boiler and a tall cab at one end. Add a chimney, a cowcatcher, three wheels and smoke.
How to draw a train step by step?
Draw the boiler, the cab, the chimney and cowcatcher, the wheels and the smoke. Color the cab blue and the boiler red last.
How to draw a train for kids?
Build the train from a capsule shape, a tall rectangle and three circles. Puffs of smoke make it look like it is moving.
If your train's wheels came out different sizes, that's fine. Your train is ready to roll. More easy drawings for kids are on the home page.