Rod Stewart and his trains

Rod Stewart likes model railways. People have known that for years. People who care about that kind of thing, or find it amusing or interesting.

I have never actually seen the train set that he has spent twenty five years building, however, and now I have. Impressive? Certainly. Amusing? In a way.

I have visions of him sitting in his hotel room after a gig painting pavements while the band go downstairs to drink themselves under the table. Or maybe the bass player stays in his room too, making balsa wood aeroplanes, while the drummer crochets hats for the roadies.

This month in an exclusive interview in Railway Modeller (where else?), Rod Stewart revealed all. He has completed his city, and he has (almost) done it all himself.

An article on the BBC website quotes Stewart, from when he phoned in to Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show to rebuff the host’s suggestion he had not built it himself.

“I would say 90% of it I built myself,” he insisted. “The only thing I wasn’t very good at and still am not is the electricals, so I had someone else do that.”

He told Railway Modeller he worked on the skyscrapers and other scenery while on tour, requesting an extra room for his constructions in his hotels.

“We would tell them in advance and they were really accommodating, taking out the beds and providing fans to improve air circulation and ventilation,” he said.