31st August 2021

VALE - LEN NEWMAN

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Len Newman, my old friend and sometime work colleague. Len was a man of many interests and talents, but is probably best known for the invention and development of his remarkable Gibson/K&L (latterly C&L) track system, which is how I met him. Len walked into the shop, introduced himself, and asked if I would like to stock his new product. So began a friendship and working relationship which, despite frequent disagreements, lasted for nearly 40 years.

After selling C&L, Len put in a lot of hours and road miles working in the rapidly growing field of Computer Aided Design (CAD). His railway designs continued to evolve and he was instrumental in helping the late Bernard Weller expand his Exactoscale range. With Bernard's passing, Len became a partner in developing and improving the product range to an even greater extent and I had the pleasure of working with him again.

In due course this business was also sold on, after which Len struggled for a while. Fortunately things improved once we got into the habit of having a weekly pub lunch and a good natter, often about absolutely nothing to do with railways, whilst consuming vast quantities of tea in the process. There was some more product development too, resulting in the beginnings of the PermaWay range. Our mutual friend David joined our little sessions and for quite some time, Len was as enthusiastic and full of ideas as ever. Sadly, Len's health and eyesight began to let him down, and with pandemic lockdown our meetings had to stop. The resulting somewhat solitary existence led to Len becoming rather withdrawn but nevertheless, it came as a shock when he passed away at home quite unexpectedly.

His lasting legacy is the quantum leap forward his designs and products brought to the world of finescale model railways. He is survived by his two sons, who will miss him as a father; for myself, and many others, he will always be remembered as a friend.

RJM

Chairs for Bullhead Rail in 7mm scale

Ever since the introduction of our high-Ni nickel silver Code 125 Bullhead rail it has been our intention to produce rail chairs to suit. We are delighted to announce that these are now available. Injection moulded in high-grade ABS, from all-new English-made tooling, they are accurately detailed and easy to use.

Initially, we have chosen to produce the three most common chair types used on the prototype: the standard S1 3-screw plain line chair, the 4-screw L1 bridge chair and the 4-screw P slide chair. For simplicity and economy, all three types are included on a single sprue.

Every pack contains 400 S1 and 50 L1 chairs, both with left and right hand keys, plus 50 of the P type. This means there are enough chairs in a single pack to enable the modeller to construct a complete turnout, with sufficient spares to allow for the cutting and shutting of chairs in order to represent the numerous other special chairs used on the real railway.

Part number 7PW3CH, in stock now at a special introductory price of just £25.00 per pack plus postage, from our sole agents Phoenix Precision Paints Ltd.

They are also available direct from PermaWay/Karlgarin Models.