It is with great sadness and shock that I must report that my friend and business partner, Chris Klein, died suddenly earlier today.
Whilst I cannot imagine the feelings of devastation felt by his family, I can only thank him for all the friendship, support and good times we have experienced over the 20 years I have known him.
I already miss him dreadfully.
However, he leaves our company, Minerva Model Railways, in fine fettle, and over the next few weeks, I, and others, will try to keep orders rolling out to customers.
There may be some delays, but I will try to keep them to a minimum, and ask for your patience at this difficult time.
RIP Chris, we miss you.
Chris B
Chris, so sorry to hear that…
You guys made a good team and you (as a pair) will be sorely missed.
I have always admired the work that Minerva (& prior to that Ixion) produced and if there is any way I can help as a contributor to the business then I would be very interested to talk to you at another time. I realise this is not the moment.
I wish you and the family the best at this difficult time.
Regards
Nigel Adams
Chris was a Gentleman, a lovely chap and and always a pleasure to chat with.
He must be credited with introducing quality RTR 0 gauge to the market – which others then followed – very much changing the field of play.
But overridingly – what a decent man!
Chris, This is such shocking and tragic news. I offer my sincere condolences to his family and close friends, such as you.
Chris was such a gentleman, so knowledgable in many fields, and he was always most helpful and friendly – I shall greatly miss him, as will so many.
I wish you continuing succes with Minerva Model Railways, which I am sure you’ll run with passion in his honour.
Best wishes, David
David L O Smith (aka DLOS)
I never met Chris personally, but exchanged messages with him periodically on model railway forums, always, always pleasant and often humorous. He was also very helpful in accepting a pre-order for a class 14 by Email when I was unable to print an order form. My condolences to his family, colleagues, and friends.
Very very sad news Chris. He was a nice guy and It was a pleasure to talk to him over the years. My thoughts are with his family and his friends, especially yourself. He will be sadly missed by us all.
John Edwards
Deepest condolences to Chris’s family, friends, and workmates. My Manning Wardle suddenly looks very different to me.
Very sad news. Chris was a much valued member of our model railway club in Southampton, and will be missed by all.
He was a lovely guy and a true gentleman.
Many condolences to his family and friends.
Spoke to Chris a few times a true Officer and gentleman ,condolences to the family at such a sad time .
This is such sad news.
Sincere condolences to Chris’s family, friends, and work colleagues.
Chris was such a friendly and knowledgeable person who will be sorely missed.
I shall miss him as a friend and as a superb modeller.
I wish Chris B continued success with Minerva Model Railways and look forward to new models arriving.
Best regards Mark -aka Barnaby on the Forum]
It is with great sadness that I heard the news of Chris passing this afternoon.
I had the pleasure of chatting with him on several occasions at various shows and he was always lovely, engaging and willing to share his knowledge and enthusiasm. Our railway family has lost one of its ‘good guys’.
May I offer my sincere condolences to his family and close friends, such as yourself.
Sad news indeed, my thoughts are with you Chris as are my condolences. I’m sure that Minerva is in capable hands with you, and that folk will bear with you all in these overly challenging times.
Chris K, 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.). 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. 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, my thoughts are with you all.
Kind regards,
Martin
I was shocked and saddened to hear the news about Chris.
I met you and Chris at a number of shows and you were both very helpful and supportive. I’m sure many modellers will have been enticed into O gauge through the wonderful models that you and Chris have produced.
I’m sure you can count on the modelling community to be patient and will fully understand any delays to future releases.
Please accept my condolences and also pass them onto Chris’s family.
Very sad to hear this news, I’ve only just found Minerva in the last few months and only spoke to Chris once.
Condolences.
Rob.
Swift Sixteen.
I am extremely sad to hear that Chris has left us so suddenly, shocking news.
I enjoyed chatting with him at Telford a few years ago and enjoyed seeing photos of his excellent modelling. My Minerva 57xx and Iron Minks are always popular choices during running sessions on my railway. My most sincere condolences to Chris B and Chris’s family.
I hope Minerva continues on in the same vein, surprising us with more excellent models.
The hobby has lost one of our true champions. Best wishes to you Chris and all the Minerva gang for the future.
Kind Regards
Stuart
Utterly shocked and for once, totally lost for words. I corresponded with him only fairly recently. My sincere condolences to his family, you and yours and all at Minerva and Ixion.
Don Mason
This is very sad news. I had a very cordial conversation with Chris Klein in Telford two or three years ago about the British and German gauge 0 railway models. And then also specifically about the Pannier. I remember it very fondly.
I hope and wish that Minerva has a wonderful future.
Chr. Lutsch
What a sad loss. Worked on the Teddy Bear with Chris and spent time with him photographing a loco at Williton. What a great loss and my last purchase of a Blue Circle Iron Mink will remind me of this kind gentleman. RIP Chris Klein.