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Chris Klein of Minerva passes away


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I’d just sent a message to you about this. Very sad Chris was doing wonderful things for O gauge and a delight to talk to about other railway interests. 
My thoughts to his family and Chris Basten. 

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It was a bit of a shock to hear this news this morning! I always enjoyed chatting with Chris at exhibitions and following his posts on this and other forums. My condolences to his family and friends. He will be missed.

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This is very sad news indeed. My sincere condolences to Chris's family in particular and to his friends.

 

A great loss to the hobby. A wonderful bloke has gone from us, and we shall all miss his contributions.

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I had hoped to actually meet Chis face to face at a Show a few times, having spoken to him on the phone when ordering things, but as I went to shows like Telford etc on a Sunday, Chris was not there due, I was told to his Church commitments on a Sunday.

A sad loss not only to the Model Railway world, but to his many friends outside of this hobby.

Deepest condolences to his Family and work collogues.

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This is such sad news.  Chris was always available to discuss and make you feel very welcome in his business. 

I required one of his Fowlers but not right away so he said not to worry as he would put one aside for me, I shall take it out for a ride on my test track today in memory of him.

My condolences to family, friends and to Chris' business partner Chris Basten.

 

RIP

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It is a very sad loss. He was a really nice guy and always helpful and professional. His OO Abersoch layouts will be familiar to RM readers, based on the Lleyn Peninsula. 
I don’t think it’s understating the fact that the Chris’ and Minerva have played a significant role in the recent development of the RTR growth of O gauge in the UK.

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I've enjoyed my relationship and collaboration with Chris since he first planned the Ixion Fowler model.

 

He sent the EP of Minerva's Class 14 to me only a few days ago to optimise the custom sound project, and was in his normal jovial yet pragmatic form.

 

I received the sad news from his business partner Chris Basten earlier and it came as great shock.

 

To the model railway community Chris was, first and foremost, a highly skilled modeller, always ready to offer advice, support and information.

 

He took those skills and his love of 0 gauge to the ultimate degree, creating some inspirational and relatively inexpensive Ready to Run locomotives and, latterly, goods vehicles.

 

Others have been given credit for the recent 0 gauge renaissance but Chris, through Ixion and Minerva value for money and timely delivered models was equally influential in my view.

 

A lay preacher, Chris was an important part of his local church community so there will be many people outside of model railways who will also be feeling the pain of this unforseen loss today.

 

RIP Chris

 

 

 

 

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I first met Chris at the NEC several years ago when I was manning the 7mm Narrow Gauge Assn information stand. At that time Ixion had just introduced the On30 Australian 'Coffee-Pot' steam railcar and he asked if we could put one of his models on display. This was the first public showing of this new model and generated a lot of interest. Chris had given us his mobile number and every time anyone asked if the model was for sale, we would ring him and he came to the stand with a very large carrier bag full and so the first sales were made at that show. He then donated the model to the Assn as thanks for allowing the model to be displayed there.

I will miss our brief chats at shows and his contributions here - especially when Peppa Pig was involved! Condolences to family and friends.

Mike

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5 hours ago, AY Mod said:

There is sad news overnight that Chris Klein of Minerva passed away suddenly yesterday.

 

https://www.minervamodelrailways.co.uk/news/chris-klein/

 

Under Chris' guidance Minerva brought a significant presence into the O gauge small engine market along with several wagon projects. Chris was always a gent to chat to when opportunity arose and I admired their steady approach to building the product range and his communications.

 

Our condolences to family, friends and to Chris' business partner Chris Basten.

Sad news indeed. Chris will be missed at many, many levels and in many ways

 

I'm deeply shocked to hear of his passing, saddened too.

 

Chris' photo popped up on one of my feeds a couple of nights back, I thought, 'ahh, Ive not heard from Chris for awhile, I'll ring him or drop him a line'. Sadly, I didn't. My partner and I have SARS CV19/2 'Long Tail' and there hasn't been much time - or energy - for the nicer things in life.

 

Chris was a lovely guy, a skilled modeller (who's work I'd followed for many years in the Railway Modeller et al. And meeting one's heroes? A real pleasure when I first met Chris.), a good business man with great business acumen. One always knew that he'd deliver exactly what he set out to, what it said on the tin, to coin a phrase. A great loss to our hobby (especially 7mm FS), as was the recent loss of Adrian Swain. Two progressive, kindly, knowledgeable, skilled fellows, who knew the prototype, how to model it, how to manufacture it successfully, on time, to spec and at a fair price (whilst still making a living from it). They'll be greatly missed. Those types of fellow are few and far between, melding, successfully, many, to onlookers, impossible strands, to create great products.

 

My condolences to Chris' family and friends, including Chris Basten, my thoughts are with you all.

 

Kind regards,

 

MRW.

Edited by CME and Bottlewasher
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What a terrible, terrible shock. I met Chris at shows way back when he was demonstrating the Pannier with sound on the little layout he used, it is all his fault that I once again got into 7mm modelling, stunning models and so beautifully designed/engineered....Chris will be missed dearly by many.

 

Deepest condolences to his family and friends.

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Very saddened to hear of Chris's passing. We never actually met in person, but we did speak on the phone when I decided to go professional with weathering. He gave me some really good advice about getting started and even commissioned me to weather some rolling stock.

 

He didn’t need me to weather stock for him, he was a professional modeller after all, but I appreciate he was trying to support me starting out.

 

Rest in peace Chris. The hobby lost a good person today.

Edited by Hawin Dooiey
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So sad to hear of the news of Chris’ passing, He and I became friends over the years. His modelling was an inspiration to me and many others and he and Chris where doing super things at Minerva.  
deepest condolences to his family at this time 

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Very sad news indeed. 

 

As a new convert to 7mm, Chris has provided much in the way of inspiration through his delightful modelling. 

 

My thoughts go out to his family and friends in what must be a truly difficult time. 

 

 

Rob. 

 

 

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Such sad news and such a shock for all his family and close friends. When I lived in Bishopstoke and wanted any of the wonderful Minerva products he always happy for me to come over and collect from his house. He was a lovely man and we always had a most enjoyable and interesting conversation. Whenever I run a Minerva model I shall think fondly of him.

My very best wishes to all his family and close friends.

 

Godfrey

 

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How sad news this is. The O scale community will miss him. And I will miss him too.

My condolences go to the family and Chris Basten.

 

R.I.P. Chris

Edited by suomen
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Stunned by the news. I never met Chris but he always responded to the posts on his two fantastic layouts. I am sure he was nothing but the perfect gentleman. 

 

As with others my condolences to the family and to Chris Basten

 

Paul R

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I was shocked and saddened to hear the news of Chris’s passing. I was privileged to meet Chris a number of times at different shows over the years and he was always willing to provide advice and encouragement. I was fortunate to be able to buy one of the last remaining Ixion Manning Wardle’s and it gave me the impetus to get into industrial O scale modelling. His modelling was an inspiration to many of us. My condolences to Chris’s family and friends and to Chris B.

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Very shocked at the news, I met Chris at the NEC in his IXION days. A charming and knowledgeable man. 
I have watched his O gauge Minerva range develop over the years with interest. The Manning Wardle tempted me as I thought it could be made into a Cambrian Railways locomotive.

RIP Chris and condolences to his family.

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Just returned from holiday and I was very shocked to read this.

 

First met Chris via the phone when I ordered some Iron Minks and had a great chat with him then. He always had time for a chat a shows. 

 

My condolences to his family and freinds. 

 

Cheers, Ade.

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I am totally shocked by this sad news. Before I bought the Panier I had a lot of conversations with Chris in German and afterwards he always gave me good tips.My condolences to his family ,Chris Basten and friends

 

Werner Gura from Austria

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