You can be sure Sir Rod Stewart is serious about model railways – he has given £10,000 to enthusiasts whose collection was vandalised.
The rocker, 74, gets ribbed by pals for being frugal, with Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood famously saying he was “tighter than two coats of paint”.
And his model ex Britt Ekland once described him as “so tight-fisted it hurts him to go to the bathroom”.
But Sir Rod showed his generous side by pledging the cash to the Market Deeping Model Railway Club, saying he was “absolutely devastated” for members who lost rare model engines and layouts that took years to build.
The Scottish singer, who spent 23 years building up his own set, said: “I feel their pain.
“The collection was priceless.”
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He added he was asking fellow enthusiasts Jools Holland, Roger Daltrey and others to do the same.
Vandals ran riot at a school in Stamford, Lincolnshire, on Saturday, where the club was holding its annual show. Lincolnshire Police were alerted by a local resident when noises were heard coming from Queen Eleanor’s Church of England Junior School shortly before 4am.
Four youths were arrested in connection with the vandalism but have since been released on conditional police bail pending further inquiries.
An online crowdfunding page has gained more than £60,000 in donations.
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The club has thanked well-wishers such as Sir Rod for their generosity.
Sir Rod has said it is a myth that he is careful with his cash but admits he played up to it in his early days in the music business with The Faces to avoid being ripped off.
He owns a model of New York’s Grand Central Station and spends up to four hours a day on his hobby.
He has warned: “Don’t say it’s a ‘train set’. It is a scale-model railway.”
He told US magazine Model Railroader that he also never drinks before working on his hobby. “I can’t build after a couple of glasses of wine – the results are never good,” he said.
