Who Knew Rod Stewart Liked Model Trains?

I’ve always been kind of fascinated with model trains. We always had a train set under our Christmas tree when I was young, and then as a mom, made sure my children had a train set too. Perhaps it’s in my blood, my granddad worked for B&O Railroad. One of my favorite places to visit is Roadside America in Pennsylvania where they have one of the largest train displays I’ve ever seen.

So this morning, I was sick, couldn’t sleep, and I turned on what I thought was going to be News, it wasn’t. It was an interview with Rod Stewart, and since I am a fan of his music, I thought it could be interesting to hopefully fall back to sleep to. I didn’t fall back to sleep, as it was very interesting. I found out besides the usual toys that male celebrities have, like cars, he has built himself an amazing model train display.

Rod Stewart featured in Model Railroader

It’s as different from the average toy railroad as the rest of the singer’s glitzy home is from a tract house in Peoria.
It measures 23 feet wide by 124 feet long, for one thing, a 1,500-square-foot HO-scaled diorama that captures the essence of post-war Manhattan in intricate, jaw-dropping detail, from its recreation of a crowded terminal station for the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads to the towering brick and stone skyscrapers that frame it.
It is based on a fictional 1940’s city, complete with 5ft 4 in skyscrapers and more than 9000 feet of train track.
Each miniature train takes more than half an hour to do a full circuit.
Rod is planning more work on it.

For more (with photos) about Rod’s home and trains read here:

• Toys in the Attic: Rod Stewart’s Hidden Beverly Hills Railroad
• Rod Stewart’s Train Set Dream Comes True