New to the hobby or a veteran.

There is so much on my work bench....where do I start. I buy screws in bulk from mcmasters Carr at a big savings. Bought bunch of junk boxes over the years. So much history here

A few items that I consider basic to this hobby include;

- A small wattage soldering iron, or even better a regulated soldering power station; electric trains sooner or later will break a wire that will need re-soldering. Add a good wire-stripper tool to make this task easier-beats using your teeth.....

- A set of small nut drivers that come in handy when you need to remove steam engine linkages to change traction tires. Today that would likely mean metric sizes starting @4mm.

- A set of small jewelers screwdrivers along with dedicated varieties of "cross" head drivers, i.e. Phillips and variations on that scheme. Wiha branded tools make very durable tools for this need. (No, I'm not affiliated with Wiha...).

- Needle nosed pliers in various sizes along with dykes cutting pliers.

Most of the stuff I use everyday on the bench is stored in the small parts drawers and totes lined up below the bench.  Obviously, tools are in the large drawer or the toolbox, test equipment on the upper shelves.   The larger stuff like trucks, boards, etc. are in the bigger storage totes. to the right side.

The Phillips type screwdrivers needed are called JIS and that is Japanese Industrial Standard and they are definitely worth the investment.I have all of the usual install and repair tools.

Mikey

The Whia nutdrivers are very useful.  I bought two sets, metric and SAE, then I picked up a few more that filled in sizes that weren't in the sets.

Good thread! I would add to the jewellers screw drivers to be sure to have some magnetic tips. Depending on your eyes you need some magnification gizmo (might be another thread on this.) Finally, as grj shows, get some organized storage, this grows! Just went to Wal-Mart and bought some more Plano storage boxes 14x9 for less than $5. Same stuff sold to fishermen, the best selection is in sporting goods.

A 4.5 inch angle grinder with a cut off wheel and a wire feed welder came in handy for me the other day   But then again I mess with a lot of prewar junk.

Sure wish I had a stash of couplers.   

Oh, and my work benches have a lot of projects on them as well.  Also, the metal lathe is a handy thing to have around

I am constantly using my assortment of small pliers and you definitely need JB Weld epoxy if you are gluing any metal to metal. If you have to cut track have a Dremel tool with a fiberglass cut-off disk. If you collect/operate a specific type of locomotive or cars (like PRR cabin cars) it is helpful to buy some junk pieces as "donors" to use on your other equipment. 

Tom 

The workbench is the back bone of any railroad.

I have 3 more of these that are not in the picture.  I am both a Lionel and MTH tech.

My test tracks above include 1 o gauge with catenary, 5 rail for O and standard, and S gauge.   These tracks will also do HO and 2 rail O gauge.  Many of my test fixtures are stored under the overhead track to save space.

Some of the equipment needed to work on trains.  I keep a lap top handy with just about everything removed.  It is just used to work with MTH and Lionel trains.   DCS loader, all DCS files and Lionel LSU.  I also have a Legacy set on the bench.  Under the bench is my DC power that I use to load all MTH sound files.

I like your Lionel test figure Marty, I build a similar one.  I keep adding umbilical cords as new test connections become necessary.  One day I'll swap out the motor for an Odyssey one as that would allow me to test/debug the DCDS on the board.  Being able to just pop the boards into a rig and test them really makes some of this stuff go quicker.

A big must John.  I am seeing many R2LC boards going out to lunch.  A run in the test fixture tells it all.

I've had a run of them lately, I went for a long time without seeing a bad one, then BOOM!  I've replaced two this week!

They are getting old.  

Not as old as we are Marty, and we don't require replacement!

"we don't require replacement!"  So I should take out the pace maker, the two stents, and my plastic right knee, after all I'm only 73!     I like this thread. 

For many years I had a commercial layout building business so over the years my tools got a little more sophisticated!  Russ

When I built my train room, a work bench was a "must," even for minor repairs and cleaning. In addition to my large soldering gun, I recently bought a small Weller soldering iron & stand. I have lots of room for improvement in my soldering abilities, although the other night I successfully soldered the leads to a new MTH smoke unit fan motor--and it works! It even rotates in the correct clockwise direction (thank you Gunrunner and Marty). My workbench is right in the train room, so I put doors up to give it a more finished look. 

I have a pretty good stash of prewar Lionel parts that my Dad accumulated over the years. Whenever he bought trains, if there were junk pieces, he always stripped them of any salvageable parts, and they definitely come in handy. 

5 years in. I still consider myself on the "rookie" side. I have kept it very, very, basic!

I got my first train 72 years ago. I still don't know how to fix one.

Somewhere in this mess there is a work bench. Tools are stashed in various places or left where a project is underway. Between my shop, garage, and shed I spend more time looking for my tools than the job takes to complete . My father used to yell at me all the time for borrowing his tools and not putting them back. Guess nothing's changed in 54 years.

Extremely jealous of some of your setups. One day......

Sounds basic but a really good set of screw drivers in as many sizes as you can get.

And lots of light....I've added more and better light since this pic...

count me as a rookie for this hobby, though my start was watching my Dad's American Flyer standard gauge trains on an oval around the Christmas tree when i was a toddler. My brother and I would set it up every year as we got older, I was maybe 8 or 9 the first we did it without supervision. I taught myself how to take apart the engine for cleaning and lubricating. My brother has the set now, probably for 30 years or so, still runs well.

My start now was about a year and a half ago, Christmas 2015, when my wife gave me a 1953 Lionel set she bought from a friend who's husband had bought it new back then. My 3 yr old grandson took to it right away, we've bought stuff from a couple local hobby shops and the monthly train show at DuPage County fair grounds. Definitely have been adding small tools and starting to accumulate parts, as we enjoy working on  the trains and building the layout. Currently the layout is not running, we just moved it to another room, so it had to be partly taken apart. It is a 4x8 layout, homasote over 2" pink foam over plywood on 2x3 frames on what was our dining room table. A work in progress for sure. Now that it is in a dedicated space, we will be starting on it again, first thing up is rebuilding 8 or so 022 switches, then on to scenery stuff and buildings. OF course, running trains will be a priority, especially for the little guy, who loves just pushing around the cars even when I'm not there.