"Giant Miniature Weekend" Finale...

"Sunday Line-Up" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

Well, a year in the planning and four days in the execution, "Giant Miniature Weekend" 2017 has officially closed after a brilliant if draining weekend. The final count was 90 miniatures on Saturday and 84 miniatures on Sunday - a supreme effort by our valued exhibitors who provided such a varied, colourful and enthusiastic line-up of engines. Today I arose at 6am once again, in order to help Nick with the clearing away down at the Roundhouse following last nights party with Dr Busker. To say we felt a little tired is an understatement but this is the life of a group of event organisers! The rest of the day was spent darting about all over the place - answering questions, dealing with passengers, helping engines, providing displays and generally running about on countless small tasks. I know I knock it, but I do love it when a plan comes together. The weather today was far more enjoyable than yesterdays dreary conditions and bumper crowds turned out at Statfold to enjoy the show. I am very grateful to Malcolm Ranieri who came along once again on behalf of Old Glory to capture a record of the event. He has sent in all of the images used in this post: thank you Malcolm...

"Bagnall 'Gelert' On Display In The Running Shed" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

The railway was today running to full capacity with all four engines employed on lengthy passenger trains throughout the day...

"CSR No19 & 'Alpha" Double Head" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

The Burton & Ashby Light Railway tram car No14 was also very popular today, no doubt due to the very pleasant weather...

"The Tram Awaits Its Next Departure" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

This years full size division included a whopping 8 engines, to complement our massive selection of miniatures. Thank you to all of the owners of these marvellous machines. Leading the line from the right is Arthur Henton's "Emma"...

"Big Engine Line" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

Chris Arrowsmith's Foster Tractor "Ikanopit" was also present...

Now follows a selection of images of the various miniatures on display. There isn't room on the blog to include all of them so my apologies. There were so many this year and I am so grateful to all of our exhibitors for providing such a show. Most makes & models were represented this time in scales from 1.5" right up to 9". All pics which follow belong to Malcolm Ranieri, as do all others in this post...

"Howard" meets the 6" Burrell "Wandering Star"...

4" Foster "Safaniya" which has attended all five of the shows since 2013...

The Baxter Mac's - "Lady Jennifer" & "Nevermore" - line up against "Emma". "Nevermore" was awarded the John Tomlinson Best In Show Trophy at the 2pm line-up today. Well done to owner & builder Jenny Baxter...

Matt Cain's 4" Garrett meets tram car No14...

As usual I am very grateful to James Brett for bringing his 4" Burrell "Sybil" along to work in our small working area. "Sybil" was cutting wood once again on the 4" rack bench. Also in the working area were displays of vacuum pumping and ploughing...

"Wandering Star" leads a 4" Foster and a 4" Mac down the concrete road. This flat running surface, which runs for around a mile through the fields of Statfold Barn, is very popular with the miniature engine drivers during "GMW"...

The highlight of the day was once again the 2pm Line Up and BIG Whistle. Visitors always seem to enjoy the spectacle of all of the engines together, as do I!...

And a few more...

And a few more...

An overall view of the Sunday line-up prior to the whistle up. As I say I must thank all of our exhibitors for providing such a varied display of steam power from across the UK. It was the best we've ever done. In a soppy way, I always feel a little emotional at the final whistle up of the weekend. A years work by all involved requires a lot of dedication, though I've always been proud of everything we've done. From the 24 engines that I begged to come along to Market Bosworth in 2013, we've grown to 37 in 2014, 54 or so in 2015, 74 for our first rally at Statfold and now to a massive 90 as the peak of this years "GMW". This couldn't have been done without all of our exhibitors. Five years in the making and this is what you get - fantastic work everyone...

Later in the afternoon thoughts started to inevitably turn to putting things away, tidying up and generally running the event down. By 7pm I was on my way home after four pleasant if extremely draining days at Statfold as part of "GMW". It was a great achievement by all involved so thank you to the exhibitors, volunteers, staff and of course the Lee Family and our Committee of Nick, Leanne & Phil for all coming together to provide such a wonderful weekend. We've had nothing but good reviews (thankfully!) and this is a testament to the hard work everyone put in to provide such a great show. For a video of the day click here. In 2018 we will return over May 12th/13th - see you there?...we hope so! Many thanks all. Time for a break now whilst we try to work out what to do next...Until next time, Sam...