You’ve worked for months planning your dream model railroad layout and for just as long to lay out all the track. Your empire is almost complete save for a four-inch gap that exists between your eastern and western loops. You reach into your track bin to bridge that gap and discover that the shortest track that you have is 4.15 inches long. You sob in dejected horror as you realize your crowning work will never be complete.

Or you can just use the Xuron Track Cutter, manufactured especially for moments like these. The tool measures about six inches long and two inches wide when closed, or four inches wide when open. Its hard metal composition gives it the weight and solidity of a quality product. The handles are wrapped in Xuro-Rubber, which feels like a rubberized plastic, and makes the tool comfortable to hold in one hand.

The cutter itself is angled about 45 degrees from the handle, making it easy to position across a rail. The instructions recommend cutting HO track from top to bottom, and N and Z track from side to side. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with other scales. A squeeze of the handles provides a clean, square cut that requires almost no filing. A small spring returns the tool to the open position.

The black metal finish is non-glare to reduce eyestrain. And the orange of the handles makes the tool easy to find in the darkness under a layout or buried in the toolbox.

I was hoping the two holes at the end of the handles went straight through the tool so they could be used for hanging. But they seem to be a manufacturing artifact. I’ve used the tool only on HO track, and to cut away plastic ties, which it does with no problems. The instructions approve work only on track or soft material, but do not recommend the cutters on hard wire or music wire. For safety’s sake, I wear goggles during use, since cut metal can sometimes fly at unpredictable angles.

My only quibble is the lack of a hook to keep the tool closed for storage. But a loop of rubber band around the handle solves that problem.

Recommended: Yes