What’s with Johnny Cash, Winston Churchill, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Roger Daltrey, Joe DiMaggio, Rick Green, Gene Hackman, Tom Hanks, David Hasselhoff, Elton John, Michael Jordan, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Neil Young and Gary Coleman in common?

All these celebrities love to see miniature trains that run through mountains, rivers and miniature towns.

In short, everyone is addicted to model trains.

Johnny Cash, the American singer-songwriter, did television commercials and endorsements for Lionel Trains in the 1970s.

Neil Young is part owner of Lionel Trains.

Rod Stewart, between doing blondes and who knows what else, spent a considerable amount of time and money building model trains. In fact, Rod’s impressive replica of New York’s Grand Central Station, complete with 100-foot spans of buildings and period-garbed figures from the 1940s, graced the cover of Model Railroader in October 2007. An honor Rod he claims it means more than “being on the cover”. of the Rolling Stones”.

Conceived.

The late Gary Coleman is another model train aficionado. In an interview online with ABC News, he said, “I’m currently making Lionel trains. I’m making them as prototypical as possible, even though they’re toy trains. I still like to make them as realistic as possible.”

Gary Coleman also allegedly left his entire train collection to Allied Model Trains, The Original Whistle Stop, and The Train Shack in Los Angeles. So if you’re a train modeler, you know you’re in a great company. You can even get Frank Sinatra’s train layouts on DVD.

So what is the appeal of these toy trains?

First of all, they are not toys. Enthusiasts will tell you that they are works of art. They are shrunken versions of the real thing. They work just like the real thing. There are a lot of skills you need to master a job design. You’re a jack of all trades: a semi-competent carpenter, electrician, metalworker, painter, sculptor, and designer all rolled into one.

There is also the joy of escapism. You can forget about the business of living for hours on end as you pore over the blueprint for a perfect world, all of your own making.

And it is never complete. Just keep looking for more things to add to your model to make it perfect. Adding a mountain here, a pond there, more clues. The list is endless. It can take you years. Then, of course, there is the ultimate thrill of watching the trains circling the tracks.

It’s no wonder so many celebrities are hooked on model trains!