"Giant Miniature Weekend" 2018...

"Peckett 'Harrogate' Meets The Miniatures" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Giant Miniature Weekend" 2018 began for me once again at not long after 6am - up with the dawn chorus and out into the truck to carry on setting up for Saturday. With stacks of tickets sold - more than four times more than last year - we had a lot of visitors to attend to and the show had to be as good as it could be...

"7am at Statfold Junction"

After a walk around the running shed to meet the morning crews, I drove down into the field where Fergal Roche's 6" Savage "Spud" was basking in the morning sun. Fergal and Mick had brought their engines all the way from Corke in Ireland - a fine achievement and I think a testament to the great experience we try to provide at Statfold. We appreciate their support immensely...

Now, due to the fantastic photos kindly sent in by Old Glory reporter Malcolm Ranieri, this post is picture heavy and so I won't ramble on too much. Regular readers will know about the miniature do routines from previous years and it was much the same this weekend. I will say however that it was just wonderful this time - I loved every minute of it. We had many, many visitors, the sun shone brightly all weekend, the trains ran well and to plan, the miniatures turned up 102 strong and it was just a fabulous atmosphere. Here are some pictures of the Saturday...

"Steve Leedham's 3" Fowler Ploughing Pair" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Full Size Visitors - Fowler 'Elsa' with 'Odin' - Aveling D-Type" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Railway Engines - 'Trangkil' and 'Harrogate' The Peckett" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A Saturday Day Visitor - Keith Turley's 'Abbie Jane' - 6" Allchin" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Ian & Chris Clipston with their 4.5" Foden" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A 4" Burrell and 4" Garrett" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Brazil 'Trangkil' Meets The 6" Burrell Roller" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Beautiful 6" Roller 'Distraction' by Andy Attwell" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Chris Webb's 'Wendy' - 4" Burrell" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Wonderful 'Isibutu' the Tongaat Bagnall" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Foster 4" Crane Engine" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Adrian and his fine Crane Engine" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Fergal Roche's 6" Savage Little Samson" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Hudswell 'Alpha' Meets The Samson" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Phil and dog Freddie with their 4" Burrell Road Loco" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Just Part of the Massive Saturday Line-Up" (Pic - S.Brandist)

"An Interesting One - 4" Burrell SCC in WD Livery" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A 6" Burrell Devonshire and 4.5" Foden" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Two 6" Burrell's - Agricultural and Devonshire" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A Foster Road Loco - 4" 'Shirley B' by Tony Baldwin" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Visiting Fowler Showman's 'Repulse', ex-John Murphy" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A 4" Foster" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Two Garrett Brothers Meet" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Popular 4.5" Foden Fire Engine" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Another Fowler Showman's - 'Sir Henry' by Hugh Stannard" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Statfold Station" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The 6" Garrett 4CD 'Pegasus' by Adrian Nutting" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Another 4" Foster On The Move" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Andy Marshall and his 4" Burrell" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Popular 9" Tasker" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Riley's 'Maud' - 4" Mac" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Early Arrival 'Errol' by Jerry Turner" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A 3" Aveling Steam Tractor" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A Fairground Scene" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Two 4" Burrell Showman's" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Another 'Isibutu' Capture" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A Garrett and a Hudswell" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Little Samson Pulling a 6" Burrell DCC" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Popular 6" Sentinel Steam Lorry 'Bessie' by the Booth Family" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Rare Foden Six-Speed in 3" Scale" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Foster Crane Engine" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Fine Organ" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

On Saturday evening we had another successful 'Exhibitor Evening Out' at the Roundhouse. The three evening trains were hauled by chunky Peckett 0-6-0 "Harrogate" which I drove on the first round trip. Here she is at Oak Tree on a light engine move prior to our return to Statfold to collect the passenger train...

After a cracking drive of "Harrogate" (I love that engine) I returned to the Roundhouse to help with proceedings at the evening party. That went off very well again so that's good. Following a very late Saturday night we swiftly moved into an equally fantastic Sunday. The sun shone again, we had many happy visitors and on the whole the day went without a hitch. All in all it had been a wonderful weekend...

I grabbed one or two quick shots during our busy Sunday. Here, "Trangkil" waits at the station having arrived from Oak Tree...

Lunchtime was very busy in the catering area...

During the afternoon I had a trip standing in the middle on the beautiful Savage centre engine which hides within the confines of Ashley's Steam Gallopers. What a lovely old thing. I was really impressed with the whole set-up...

Finally, to round this post off, it can only be a sunny shot of "Isibutu"...

After a manic couple of hours getting things packed up and exhibitors onto the road home, the job was done. What a fabulous weekend but I tell you what - every single one of us is totally, totally shattered! Thank you to everyone that helped with the event in any way shape or form, thank you to the many visitors who kindly supported us and thank you to everyone and anyone that has given me any moral support over this - we couldn't have done it without any of you! It was just great, really lovely. My words and pictures don't in any way do it justice - it was just fab. Thank you all again and thank you to Malcolm Ranieri for sending in all of these images for use. I'm very proud to say that "Giant Miniature Weekend" will return in 2019 over May 11th/12th - we look forward to seeing you. Thanks all, Sam...Zzz...