It's getting close to Christmas, and, hopefully, there will be lots of newcomers to our hobby. I was thinking it might be helpful to present a list of tools that are necessary to build and maintain a model railroad. While this list is aimed at N-scale, most of the items will apply to other scales as well.
I'll divide this into train maintenance tools and layout building tools.
For mechanical maintenance of the trains:
Two good sets of miniature screwdrivers, one each of flat-blade and Phillips.
A medium-duty hobby knife (X-acto is a good brand), with an assortment of blades. A good sharpening stone can extend the life of the blades.
A small needle-nose pliers and a slip-joint pliers.
Fine sandpaper, 400 grit or finer.
A Microtrains coupler gauge. This is a little device that can be used to set coupler heights, trip pin clearance, wheel spacing, and to check track gauge.
A stainless steel scale rule.
Pointy small tweezers.
Assortment of straight pins and flat toothpicks.
An extra powerpack (like from an old trainset) and a foot or so of straight track. A pair of lead wires for the powerpack.
A small makeup brush for dusting.
Plastic cement and/or gap filling superglue.
Lubricants:
Light plastic-compatible oil. Light plastic compatible grease (LaBell 106 or equivalent). WD-40 (use sparingly, never directly from spray nozzel!).
Two other items are needed in any railroad shop for railroads of any scale (including full-size):
A variable speed hand-held motor tool (Dremel or equivalent) with assortment of drills, cutters, cutoff discs, sander drums, and wire wheels. Safety glasses!
A small bench vise.
A soldering iron is very handy. Use rosin-core solder and have a stand for it.
Model railroad building tools:
All of the above, plus:
A good wood saw. Doesn't need to be a power saw, a good crosscut will do. Plywood can be cut dimensionally at the lumber yard.
A variable-speed electric drill and assortment of bits.
Flat blade and Phillips screwdrivers.
Tape measure or yardstick.
T-square.
Spirit level.
Soldering gun.
White glue (like Elmer's Glue-All).
Small wire cutters.
Small fine-toothed razor saw (X-acto or Zona).
Very handy:
C-clamps.
Multimeter.
I've probably overlooked a few things, but that should get you started.
Les