Rod Stewart requests a large table on his rider so he can build miniature buildings for his model train set before gigs.

The singer, who has a 1,500 sq ft train layout at his Beverly Hills home, also asks for a fan so the glue fumes don't affect his voice.

The 66-year-old revealed details about his hobby in an interview with Model Railroder magazine.

He said a good model builder has "an eye for proportion, a sense of what fits natu­rally, right down to the placement of the advertising signs", but that he never drinks before starting work.

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

Stewart's model train set is based on 1940s New York Central and Pennsylvania railways. He is expecting his second baby with wife Penny Lancaster.

(by Jason Gregory)