Rod Stewart has some incredible plans for the model railway he's been building for over 25 years

10 December 2024, 11:11

Rod Stewart in 2024
Rod Stewart in 2024. Picture: Getty Images

By Mayer Nissim

Rod Stewart eyes up thunderbolts and lightning for his favourite hobby.

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Rod Stewart shocked the world a few years back when he revealed his unusual hobby.

While he's probably best known for his gravelly voice, womanising and remarkable back catalogue, it turned out that when he wasn't on stage or in the studio, Sir Rod liked nothing more than working on his model railway.

It was in 2019 that Stewart unveiled his masterpiece a quarter century in the making: a 156 square metre model featuring a 275m mainline track going through a cityscape boasting bridges, skyscrapers and rush-hour traffic, The Guardian reports.

Sir Rod is now going to take his model railway to the next level, and he has told Railway Modeller (of course) just how he's going to do that.

"We're going to add some uplights on some of the buildings and skyscrapers," he said.

Rod Stewart's model train set is mind-blowingly realistic | Your Morning

“Then we're going to have thunder and lightning, everything but rain put in for effects."

He'll also automate train operations and add sound effects and advanced day-to-night lighting transitions.

Called 'Grand Street And Three Rivers City', the model is set in the 1940s, and contains hundreds of buildings including trackside shanties, large factories and skyscrapers.

Model railway fan Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster
Model railway fan Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster. Picture: Getty Images

"When I take on something creative like this, I have to give it 110%," Rod told Railway Modeller when the build was first unveiled to the public.

"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!'."