Never gonna give it up says Waterman of train hobby

Music producer and model railway enthusiast Pete Waterman has spoken of his love for a village after recreating a favourite train route in miniature.

Waterman's latest build is a scale model of the West Coast Main Line through Blisworth, Northamptonshire, and it drew the crowds at the Great Electric Train Show at Arena MK in Milton Keynes at the weekend.

Created with fellow rail fans, the Railnuts, Waterman said the 64-ft (19.5-m) model had taken 29 weeks to construct.

While he said it might be the group's last major build intended for shows, Waterman admitted: "I'm never gonna give it up," referring to the 80s Rick Astley track he co-wrote and produced.

Speaking to the BBC from the MK show on Saturday, Waterman described himself as "a record producer and rail nut".

"I first went through Blisworth in 1952 and it fascinated me, and I've been going through it all my life and it still fascinates me to this day," he said.

"It's a beautiful little place that has no right to have as much railway in it."

He said he had even considered buying a hotel in the village and turning it into a recording studio.

"It's been a part of my life for so long and so I thought 'this is the last project I'm ever going to do - it's got to be Blisworth'."

Waterman said his rock star friend Rod Stewart, who also enjoys building scale versions of railways, "loved it" and was "bowled over" by the model when he visited it on Saturday.

"He's a train nut," he added.

Blisworth no longer has a railway station on the line — it closed in 1964 after a century of service.

Pete was one-third of music producers Stock Aitken Waterman, alongside Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, and he admitted: "Well, without the music, I wouldn't be able to build a 64-ft railway."

In the 1980s, the chart-dominating trio were behind hits for stars including Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley and Jason Donovan.

Waterman said: "You'll find there's lots of music people into railways because it's about detail.

"It's about watching what you're doing and, like music, it's the minutiae that makes it work.

"You know, it's easy to write a song, it's difficult to write a hit song because you've got to pay attention to lots of detail.

"This is the fifth year we've been here [at the train show], so this is, you know, this is the last one - this is our sixth layout and I wanted to do something different - so if you walk around, most people model towns and villages but nobody does, like a rural, setting."

Speaking of his love for trains, Waterman added: "It's been great fun doing this... and I'm never gonna give it up.

"Now there's a song title I wish I'd written - oh, I did write that, yes."

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