John Keil of Keil Line Passed Away

WOW! I had a bad feeling. First my thoughts and prayers are with this family. Second he had a LOT of unique detailed parts. I hope the business continues. HE is the only one that I know that sells the wayside dragging equipement detector as well as the dummy flange lubricator.

I last talked to John and his wife back in April at Chicago, sad news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family. John will certainly be missed.

 

Yes, seen regularly in the March meet, with an expanding offering of small parts

for O scale, such as a continuation of Walthers passenger car kit parts, etc.  With

All-Nation now inactive, this is bad news.  I hope the people who picked up the

New England parts, or somebody, will pick this up.

known John & Martha since 1991, great guy.  My condolences to Martha and family.

John, Martha, and I would usually get a laugh every March Meet regarding the pronunciation of our last names Keil and Heil.

 

Seems many folks pronounced their last name incorrectly as Kyle rather than the correct keel whereas most called me heel (maybe for a reason) rather then the correct Hyle.

 

Another major loss in the O scale hobby.

I'm sorry to hear that what a bummer.

Thanks for the information Dan. We've lost another from the "old guard" and our list of surviving members grows thinner. My best wishes and prayers to the family as this is a terrible time of year (not that any is good) to lose a member of the family. I hope his wife continues to attend some of the major shows and stays in touch with old friends.

 

butch  

Sad news, he had a great line of O scale offerings! ncng

John Keil was a pioneer in this hobby, creating a prolific amount of parts and kits that have been the gold standard to our craft.

rest in peace.

 

Very sad to read this.  There will be a large empty space in the room in Chicago in March without his presence.  My sincere condolences to the family.

My condolences to the family as well.  His table at Chicago was always busy, wonder what will happen now?

Very sad news, I had the pleasure of meeting he and Martha, a number of times years ago , We even shared a meal or two along with other friends. Yes he had a great line of detail parts.  John was a true gentlemen a guy you would be proud to call a friend, and lucky to have known him.  May he rest in Gods arms in peace. My prayers for his family in this time of sadness

Yes, indeed, he will be missed....

 

What is less known is that John purchased the tooling for the white metal parts that Walthers made (O scale) for their line of passenger car kits, et al, to sustain their availability.  This includes a plethora of interior details as well as underbody, roof, ends, trackside, etc., etc., etc..  While John did not have a website, he was always very responsive to phone calls/emails inquiring about products.  His printed catalog had a few drawings of select items.  If you wanted to see a better example of a particular item, he would email you a photo.  Very accommodating.

 

I am hoping against hope that someone like the recent purchasers of the Berkshire Valley line of products/castings will step forward to keep this VERY important line going, too.  After all, St. Louis, MO isn't that far away from Wonder Lake, IL.

 

John Keil.....I'm REALLY going to miss you!  My sincerest condolences to the 'Mom' of this Mom&Pop contribution to our hobby.

 

KD

 

 

I am also very saddened to read this as well. I was finally able to get to my first March meet this year and pick up the circular passenger roof vents I had been looking for. They were an extremely pleasant couple and my wife hit it off with Martha as they discussed doll houses. My sincere condolences to Martha and her family.

I just saw this in OSR mag, sad news.

Anybody with any German language training was going to pronounce his and Heil's

name as the long English "i". That is how that spelling is pronounced in German, and

long "e" is how it would have been pronounced if spelled "Kiel".  I had forgotten this,

and hope somebody picks up the line.  (I did pronoune "Keil", as a long "i"...I can't

help it if it has been Anglicized, but although I bought parts from him, I never had

a need to personally address him)

A great man and a pleasure to order from....I will missed him at the shows.....Condolences to the family....God bless...

 

Dennis

 I didn't know him. I feel the loss just reading these posts. God bless his family and friends.

Very sad to hear. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

-Greg

This does really make me sad. Good fella with amazing talent.