THERE was a time when Rod Stewart was known for a particular brand of extra-curricular activity – but those days are well and truly gone, what with Rod revealing the huge model railway city he has been working on for 23 years.
He unveiled his pride and joy as part of an interview with Railway Modeller magazine; a publication which Sleb Safari admits with regret, and indeed shame, to being unfamiliar with. Until now.
Rod’s model railway set is exquisite. Huge too. There’s vegetation, bridges, a river, ship, power station, roads with cars and taxis, pavements, warehouses and skyscrapers – the tallest of which measure five feet.
He calls it Grand Street and Three Rivers City and it’s based on an American city in the 1940s. Is anyone else humming "Will I see you tonight, on a downtown train"?
Rod worked on the model railway set when on tour, booking an extra hotel room and having it cleared of all furniture, with fans brought in "to improve air circulation and ventilation".
Sleb Safari hopes Rod is referring to human fans. It’s picturing a hotel suite with a dozen or so life-long Rodettes blowing gently on the model trains while another team open and close the doors and windows whenever the Fat Controller gives them the nod.
Rod even rang into the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 when the journalist suggested he hadn’t built the set himself.
"I would say 90 per cent of it I built myself," he stressed. "The only thing I wasn't very good at and still am not is the electricals, so I had someone else do that."
Rod added: "When I take on something creative like this I have to give it 110 per cent. 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 detail of the 1,500 square ft city is astonishing. Here’s how he described painting the pavements to Jeremy Vine.
"You start off with a grey. And then you add a little concrete colour, so every paving stone is slightly different.
"And the cracks have to have some black chalk... and then you add a little bit of rubbish in the gutters, you add a little bit of rust here and there. I enjoyed the building more than I did the running."
It’s sweet really; a terribly wholesome activity. It makes Sleb Safari wonder what other 70-something rockers have been getting up to in their spare time. Might Mick Jagger be a crochet king? Is Meat Loaf whittling wood? Could Tina Turner be a secret stamp collector?
All we know for sure is that the man who croons I Am Sailing has a new song and it goes something like this: I Am Railing, I Am Railing… thank you for indulging Sleb Safari.
Win a £50 voucher for ladies night at Hillmount Bangor
SLEB Safari is giving away two £50 vouchers to ladies shopping night at Hillmount garden centre in Bangor.
The shopping night takes place on Friday December 6 and you have four glorious hours to spend your voucher.
There will be a free glass of sparkling or mulled wine on arrival and Hillmount Bangor will be open until 9pm.
To be in with a chance to win one of the vouchers answer this question correctly:
Which town in the US is Bangor twinned with?
Email your answer to competitions@irishnews.com and mark your entry 'Sleb Safari/Hillmount Bangor'. The competition closes at noon on Wednesday November 20. Please include your address and a telephone number.
Usual Irish News rules apply and the voucher must be used at Hillmount, 116 Belfast Road, Bangor, BT20 3NN at ladies shopping night on Friday December 6, between 5pm and 9pm.
Competition winners
The winners of a £50 voucher for ladies night at Hillmount garden centre in Belfast are:
- Michael Graham from Bangor
- Stacey Hinfey from Magherafelt
The winners of Dublin Murders on DVD are:
- Brenda Fegan from Burren in Co Down
- Catherine Corrigan from Dungannon
- Jim Fawcett from Strabane
