Rod Stewart Debuts 124-Foot Model Railroad 23 Years In The Making

By Aynslee Darmon. Published: 12 Nov 2019 6:46 PM

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Beretta/Sims/Shutterstock (10472066v) Rod Stewart at BBC Radio 2 Studios Rod Stewart out and about, London, UK - 11 Nov 2019

Turns out singing isn’t Rod Stewart’s only talent.

In a new spread Railway Modeller magazine, the music icon showed off his 124-foot model railroad of an American city in the 1940s that took 23 years to make.

“It’s the landscape I like,” he told the mag, revealing he “winged” the layout. “Attention to detail, extreme detail, is paramount. There shouldn’t be any unsightly gaps, or pavements that are too clean.”

Make sure you pick up our latest issue – on sale this Thursday – which features an exclusive interview with Sir Rod Stewart and read what he revealed to us about his lifelong passion for railway modelling! @rodstewart #railway #railways #trains pic.twitter.com/2xoer8U7ce

— Railway Modeller (@RailwayModeller) November 11, 2019

According to Stewart, travels with his wife Penny Lancaster inspired his hard work on the railroad, “I remember seeing a marvellous railway layout in a model railway shop window and thinking if only I could get paid to build a model railway like that.”

While the model railroad is finished now, touring made it a little more difficult to work on. But thankfully, hotels made the challenge a little easier.

“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.

He later added, “If I’d have realized at the start it would have taken so long, I’d have probably said ‘No! No! Nah!’”