How many of us have seen a movie or a television show where someone is wearing a conductor's hat and running a model train? It has never been easier than the present to become one of those people with the lucky conductor's hat. Now you can ever build your own model train set. The first thing you will need is to gather together some tools that will prove themselves to be very handy if not downright necessary. Once you gather these tools it will be beneficial for you to store them in a central location away from your others that way when you get ready to work on your train set you will not be missing one you need.
The most important tool in every modelers arsenal is a good hobby knife. It is best if you have a decent selection of different shaped blades as well. This knife alone will get you through more projects than you are yet to realize. It is definitely worth its weight.
The next tool you will need is a good set of wire cutters. Do not think your hobby knife can do it all. It can be dangerous to attempt to cut wire without the aid of wire cutters.
A hacksaw will come in very handy if you need to cut little wood or metal pieces. You should make sure that the item you are cutting is held tightly in place by the next tool on your list.
A vice is needed for clamping parts into place so that you can solder with a soldering iron. It also keeps you free to cut, sand, or file on them without having to worry about hurting yourself. This tool alone should help you prevent many potential injuries.
Speaking of a soldering iron that is the next tool on your wish list especially if you plan on using much electronics in your train set. While you might sometimes be able to get away without soldering some of your connections this will not always be possible. Any time you need to join wires to metal or wires to wires this will come in very handy.
Another tool that is handy for joining parts together is a glue gun. This will be especially handy when you get ready to layout your display elements like your people, trees, and animals.
A hammer with a small head on it can also be an excellent fastener for some of the harder to join wooden items.
For parts that will be screwed together as well as many that will need to be poked, prodded, or pried into position a small selection of screwdrivers will do the trick. They are also handy for working on your model trains interior workings.
For the many push pins you will be using over the lifetime of this hobby a pair of needle nose pliers is good to have as well.
For building base boards and many different general tasks you need to have a drill on hand. Whether cordless or corded a drill will prove its worth rather quickly.
Other than these basic tools the rest can be gotten rather easily. Don't forget to get your consumable items to go with your tools including solder, tacks, nails, glue, etc. Once again, by having all these tools ahead of time you will save a good deal of time and money in the long term of your model train building hobby.
