Smokestack Lightnin’: Neil Young’s Model Train Paradise

A nice summary of Neil Young and model trains on Smokestack Lightnin’: Neil Young’s Model Train Paradise by Jerry McCulley.

Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon recalls a surreal scene on Young’s bus during her band’s tour with him in the ’90s. As Gordon prepared a meal, Neil sat nearby tinkering with his trains.

“Part of the train set was a model cow that made moo-ing noises,” Gordon recalled with a chuckle. “And Neil wasn’t happy with the cow sound. He didn’t think it was realistic enough. So he kept fiddling with the electronics. He’d get the cow to moo, and he’d ask us what we thought. ‘Was it realistic enough? Did it need some more work? What was wrong?’ He was at it for an hour or so. It was amazing how a toy cow could maintain his interest for so long.”

Thanks for the shout-out Jerry!