The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sir Rod wears his model railroad hobby very well
Sir Rod Stewart is proud at the attention his model railroad has received, despite some people thinking it a “silly hobby”.
The star spent more than 20 years working on the layout, which was unveiled for the first time yesterday.
The model railway, Grand Street and Three Rivers City, is based on an American city in the 1940s and spans 1,500 sq ft in the attic of his home in Los Angeles.
Sir Rod, 74, told BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine of his joy at the coverage his model railroad has received after it was shared by Railway Modeller magazine.
He said: “A lot of people laugh at it being a silly hobby, but it’s a wonderful hobby.”
He added: “They say model railroads are never finished, but this one is. There’s not much more I can do with it.”
The sprawling depiction of a post-war city, based on Chicago and New York, includes skyscrapers, bridges, a rush-hour traffic scene: “transition era” facilities for both steam and diesel traction and a power station.
There is even a Celtic FC liveried bogie open coal wagon representing an American gondola in a nod to his beloved football team.
The display also includes a Great Caledonian Steel & Iron Co building in reference to his Scottish heritage, and a green backdrop of the leafy areas around the city.
Sir Rod, who has been a lover of model railways since childhood, started the project in 1993 at his home in Los Angeles, and over the years he would book an extra room in hotels when away on tour to work on his models.