13 November 2019
Newsdesk
Rod Stewart has finally completed his huge homemade model railway layout after decades of obsessively indulging his hobby.
The Maggie May hitmaker, 74, has been a fan of model trains since he was a kid, a love he shared with longtime pal and former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood.
For the past 26 years, he has been building a huge 1,500 square foot model railway, inspired by post-war Manhattan, in his Beverly Hills home, and has now revealed the finished set to Britain's Railway Modeller magazine.
"When I take on something creative like this, I have to give it 110 per cent," he said of his long quest for the perfect model railway. "For me it's addictive. I started, so I just had to finish. I'm lucky I had the room. If I'd have realised at the start it would have taken so long, I'd have probably said, 'No! No! Nah!'"
The star often used to book extra hotel rooms when touring to create a temporary model-making workshop, but is now ready to enjoy the fruits of his labour.
"There are perhaps aspects of the layout built in the early days which could be upgraded or improved, such as some of the earlier buildings, but at the moment it is time to enjoy some operating sessions," he explained.
The mammoth railway set takes up most of the third floor of his mansion, and includes skyscrapers standing more than 5 ft high, dirty rubbish-strewn streets, with tiny people positioned as if they were living life in the city.
Discussing why he chose a rundown New York as his inspiration, the star added: "I find beauty in what everyone else sees as ugly - rugged skyscrapers, beaten-up warehouses."
