What have Steven Spielberg, Neil Young, Pete Waterman and James May all got in common? They are all keen on their model trains.

Well know music producer Pete Waterman has a huge system housed in 200 foot barn, reputed to be worth at least half a million pounds. He even has his own model train making company. And there are many wealthy model train enthusiasts with a similar obsession. Steven Spielberg and Neil Young have their own model train company called Lionel trains.

And this group of well known personalities are not alone in their enthusiasm for model trains. Building model railway systems is no longer a hobby pursued by young boys. Their dads and their uncles are more likely to be Hornby train enthusiasts with their own model train sets.

Vintage model train collecting has become big business. Obsessive model train collectors are not interested in playing with the model trains and they only want pristine vintage models, still in their boxes having never been played with. As Mr May says, these models were meant to be played with and not kepe in their boxes.

At a model train auction Mr won a completely unused Hornby train set for £200 which other collectors would have kept, unused, in its box. Mr May unceremoniously threw the box away when he built the system in his James May’s Top Toys television programme.

In the December 20th edition of the current series of James May’s Toy Stories he and around 400 valiant volunteers rebuild the long lost rail link between Bideford and Barnstaple in Devon using OO gauge model train track. Although the link suffered due to vandals stealing some of the track for a short time Bideford and Barnstaple were once again linked by rail. Unfortunately the little model trains were obviously not big enough to carry any passengers but a lot of people enjoyed building the rail link.

You could win one of two fantastic Hornby Train Sets in the current Christmas Hornby Competition from modelzone.co.uk. All you have to do is answer one simple question and you could win a fantastic Hornby train set.