Rod Stewart tells of backstage train set demands

Stewart has a 1,500 sq ft (139 sq m) model train layout in his Beverly Hills home

Rod Stewart has revealed he requests a large table in his dressing room when touring so that he can make miniature buildings for his model train set.

The singer has a fan so that glue fumes do not affect his voice and a schedule for cleaning his train set, according to US magazine Model Railroader.

But the 66-year-old never drinks before working on his hobby.

"I can't build after a couple of glasses of wine - the results are never good," he is quoted as saying.

It is "an eye for proportion, a sense of what fits natu­rally, right down to the placement of the advertising signs" that makes a good model builder, he continues.

"When I find myself focusing so intently on a model that it ceases to be fun, it's time to walk away, have a cup of tea and come back to it later," he adds.

Stewart, who has a 1,500 sq ft (139 sq m) model train layout on the third floor of his Beverly Hills home, said he spends up to four hours a day on his hobby.

Being on the cover of Model Railroader meant more to him than being on the front page of music magazines, he once revealed.

Stewart's train set is inspired by 1940s New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads and features skyscrapers more than 5 ft tall.

He and wife Penny Lancaster are currently expecting their second child together.