You want to use a FLAT pick on the mandolin, young fella. Thumbpick and two fingerpicks on the banjo.
Get some audio production software (I like Cubase) and track each instrument separately (use a click track to get the timing in line).
Then mix it down to a finished piece.
When you want to go instrument shopping, take a trip down to Old Forge and visit Mountain Music. They'll get you set up!
cudakenSparkie The Rocket Dog is close to the end. I hope he gets to pass away in his forever home in his sleep. He came from a rescue when he was 10 years old.
That's too bad Ken. Losing a pet is a hard thing to go through, but you are to be congratulated for giving him a good home.
When I was a kid we had a terrier named Sparkie. I loved him, but like all dogs he got too old and he was blind and suffering so my parents did the right thing instead of prolonging his life. I was only 10 years old. That was quite a lesson in life.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good Morning!
Grrrr - a mosquito zooming in for the kill kept me awake all night! I tried to hunt it down with my FLAK, but to no avail!
Ken - I am sorry to hear about Sparkie! I know how attached your are to him(?) and it will be a difficult time losing him.
Well, today I won´t be boring you with another video show British mainline steam in these days. My choice of video is an educational film about steam engine. In Britain, many a film on railways was produced in the 1930s and following, leaving us with a treasure trough of information of the "good old steam age"!
Here is "A Study In Steel"!
A OO scale model of the engine class shown in the video is available from Hornby.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Ken, I hope your remaining days with Sparkie are filled with more joy than sorrow. Sparkie knows that you and Susan care for him greatly.
Regards, Ed
Bear - I think GWR´s "Castles" fought in a different league than the LMS Fivers. Comparing those two is a bit like comparing a Shire horse to a thorougbred. The "Castles" were designed for fast passenger services, in which they excelled, whereas the Fivers were multi-purposed engines. The CAstles had a TE of 31,625 lbs and a top speed of 92mph and the Fivers had a TE of 25,455 lbs and a maximum speed of 80 - 85 mph. They were much closer to the GWR´s "Hall" class.
GWR Castles are available from Hornby.
I just recently learned, that rationing in Britain ended much later than in Germany. With the introduction of the Deutschmark in 1948, rationing pretty much ended, the only item to remain rationed for sugar for some more years.
Thanks for the insight!
Time for an afternoon cup of coffee and something to munch on! Zoe, would you be so kind a bring me a handful of those chocolate chip biscuits, please? Yes, it is biscuits and not cookies - we are in Great Britain this month, you know!
The long and rocky road to become an engineer in the glory days of steam is explained in the following video.
The cab crew is called "men of the footplate" in Britain. The footplate - that small piece of sheet metal bridging the gap between the engine and the tender was literally all the room there was for the engineer and his fireman for many years, often with very little protection from rain, wind and shine. Railway management didn´t care much about crew safety and even less for crew comfort. It´d be a feast for any of today´s work health & safety officer to close down the operation, but such care was not known in those days.
In Germany, we had no engine cleaners - that was part of the crew´s job to keep their engine clean and tidy. Each crew had their own engine to take care of and they made sure they had a tidy work place. To become an engineer you had to go through an apprenticeship of three years as a fitter or metal worker, followed by another apprenticeship as fireman for a couple of years, than a few years of active duty as a fireman before you could start as a trainee engineer. All in all it took a young lad about 10 years before he was an enginer in commad of the iron horse.
Good morning ..... Coffee and a scone, please.
It's good to see interesting photos of British Railways. If I can find my photos of when I was at the British Railway Museum in York, England. I will share them.
Meanwhile, I took these photos in York, Maine last week.
I have train related photos from the trip, and I will share them when I get a chance.
Have a good day.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
cudaken Sparkie The Rocket Dog is close to the end. I hope he gets to pass away in his forever home in his sleep. He came from a rescue when he was 10 years old. As long as he will eat and some what walk we want to keep the poor guy with us. He spent about 4 years being passed to 1 rescue to another. I promised him when we got him this was is forever home, and it is.
Sparkie The Rocket Dog is close to the end. I hope he gets to pass away in his forever home in his sleep. He came from a rescue when he was 10 years old. As long as he will eat and some what walk we want to keep the poor guy with us. He spent about 4 years being passed to 1 rescue to another. I promised him when we got him this was is forever home, and it is.
Ken, it's become clear from your posts over the years how much you love Sparkie and what a good doggy daddy you are to him. I'm sure he knows, too, and loves you for it. Best wishes for an easy transition for him.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
When my brother had to put their dog down, the vet came to them at their new house. Russell and his wife lay down next to the dog, cuddling her when the injection was given. She is burried on their new property.
Property for them is confusing, AFIK, they are still living in the old house while the new house is being rebuilt according to their specifications. That has been going on for three years now.
Russell claims he will retire whe he is 72, about three more years for him, but there is little value in his business. Russell *is* the business, all a buyer would be getting is a lease on the old (landmarked) building, sosme tools, and the name of the company. Russell cannot expect to get more than $30,000 for the business, but as the owner of the building, he gets to collect the rent. He pays rent to himself now, so that the books are all in order for a prospective buyer to inspect.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Sometimes, we anthropomorphise our pets too much. Yes, they are one of the family. But, only the pet really knows how he suffers. After a long and happy life, we think too much of the pain of losing the animal, and not enough of the discomfort he might be in.
If you're prolonging the animal's life, make sure it's for him, and not just to delay the inevitable grieving.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Afternoon folks!
MisterBeasleySometimes, we anthropomorphise our pets too much. Yes, they are one of the family. But, only the pet really knows how he suffers. After a long and happy life, we think too much of the pain of losing the animal, and not enough of the discomfort he might be in. If you're prolonging the animal's life, make sure it's for him, and not just to delay the inevitable grieving.
Amen to that! It is always hard to make that decision... I knew it was coming with my cat Manet, but as soon as I felt he was in real discomfort with his cancer, I took him to the Vet. She felt he had no more than 2 good weeks left, and by that time I was leaving for Key West. I decided to get it over with right then!
With the other one, Blackie, got in trouble fast and was in terrible pain. Had him put down as soon as the Vet could see him.... That one was a blessing. I hate to see animals struggle in pain when there is no good outcome. They also don't know what is happening when they go so there is little or no fear for them!
That said..... It is always a gut wrecthing experience. I still miss my boys!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Garry,
Heartland Division CB&QMeanwhile, I took these photos in York, Maine last week.
Besides being in YORK, your picture of the lighthouse is excellent! It looks good enough to be on a calendar.
York1 John
Well, that's cool. I just got my next issue of MR, and it has a review of a model I actually have. It's the Milwaukee GP-20, a chopped nose diesel which was actually a rebuild of an old GP-9. I got the plain DC version because they were on sale, and put in a basic motor decoder. This was Number 970.
I looked up a bit of history of the engine, and found the road number of the engine that got rebuilt to create this one. Since I had an old rubber band Athearn with an already duplicated road number, I painted that number over and decalled on the number of the rebuilt engine. This engine became a sound dummy, so now I have the old and new road numbers for the same engine running as a consist.
Eveing Diners
Flo, give the gang and I a please.
Thank You all for the kind words about Sparkie The Rocket Dog. Wife seems to think he felt a little better today. When I got home from work it was a sleep and it was a deep sleep. It was hard to get him awake so Sue could taken him out.
When Shaddy our last Irish Wolfhound was close to her end we asked the Vet when should we put her down? He told us "She will let you know when it is time." When she did we knew it was the right thing to do.
So far Sparkie has not told us it was time.
Bear I think there are 15 Inspector Colbeck books in the series. Master Marson is a very prolific writter with over 100 books in print. I am now reading the Nicholas Bracewell Mystery series. Set in 1560's and boy some of the Queen English is strange to me. Still good reading and I can cuse the fashion of that era and not get hit in the head with a skillet in the dinner!
Wednesday will be my 100th day with out a cigarette!
None smoking Ken
I hate Rust
Good evening ....
Ken .... I can certainly understand your hesitating to put down Sparkie , the Rocket Dog. I base that on many sad memories of having to do that for dogs and cats. I never forget doing that. ... On the other hand, I recall times when we would let a pet suffer until death. I can't forget doing that also. ... The worst memories are when we let the pet suffer until death.
John / York 1 .... Thanks for commenting about the light house photo. It was taken in the evening with the sun setting behind me.
On the way to the Cog Railway, we saw signs with words of wisdom in New Hampshire.
Now I will show the Cog Railway photos. The train climbs up Mt. Washington which is the highest location east of the Mississippi River (about 6300 feet above sea level) . The trains have several different color schemes. Our train had a steam locomotive, and the other trains had diesel locomotives. At the base of the mountain, there were trees, and it was sunny and about 70F. At the top of Mt. Washington, we were in clouds with no trees, and it was windy and about 50F. Grades were about 35% in many parts of the trip.
These pictures are taken as we went back down the mountain. .... The passenger car was wider than the little locomotive, and therefore the locomotive was not in view when I leaned out the window. The locomotive is always on the downhill end of the car. Only one car per locomotive.
Heartland Division CB&QNow I will show the Cog Railway photos.
Hi Garry,
Thanks for the great photos! I love the crooked and missing ties! What's to worry?!?
I'm not being critical of the railroad. We should all be extremely gratefull to the people who work so hard to maintain these railroading wonders.
Dave .... Thanks for commenting ..... I'm glad you like the pictures.
Garry - thank you for sharing your wonderful pictures with us. I really like the rather odd looking steam loco, but the Diesel is, say, something else. I am glad they still operate the stem trains up the mountain.
Today´s video of British steam trains is an overview of UK heritage railways.
Enjoy!
Good Morning All,
A regular to go please Zoe. Garry, thanks for the pics of Mt. Washington. We were off to the south in the Tamworth area from Thursday to Saturday and the mountain was off in the distance. They also have a hillclimb up the motor road but I've never done it as I haven't had a suitable car - the top half is still gravel and very rough.
Not much to report on the layout front as we are scrambling to get ready for Mt. Equinox this weekend and I have things to do on my car.
Ken, congrats on 100 days. Sorry to hear of your trials with Sparky. Always tough at the end with a pet.
Ulrich, the videos are great. You seem to have done a lot of research.
Lots to do so I best get to it. Ciao, J.R.
Good morning. No walking outside this morning -- thunder storms! The college field house is closed, so no walking inside. Some people walk at Walmart, but I have trouble with that. I seem to stop a lot to look at things.
Time for bacon, eggs, and coffee. I guess it's not particularly healthy for me to eat bacon and eggs every single day, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned. When you reach a certain age ...
Ken, sorry about your dog. It seems all of us have faced that issue.
My present dog is a deaf black and white long-haired dachshund. She was taken by the shelter during a meth house raid. She was in bad shape, not expected to make it, and was going to be put to sleep. My wife fell in love with her. It was a lot (a lot!) of money to get her healthy.
Was it worth it? She is now my closest friend. When we got her home as a puppy, I noticed she did not respond to my whistle. We realized she is deaf. That makes thunder storms, fireworks, and the vacuum cleaner very easy to take.
Not much progress on the layout. Lots of other things have taken up the time. Have been at the computer for two straight days, so I'm looking forward to finishing that project. Sitting at the computer is not my idea of fun.
Hope everyone has a good day.
GMTRacingUlrich, the videos are great. You seem to have done a lot of research.
Nearly 30 years ago, I lived and worked in London. During that time, I developed an interest in British railways, railway modelling and old British cars, not the RRs and Bentleys, though, more in humble vehicles like the Austin 7, which can still be had for reasonable amounts of money over there.
Howdy .....
Ulrich and JR ..... Thanks for your coments regarding my phtos of the Cog Railrway in NH.
Below are photos of a Maine 2 foot guage train I rode on. It travels a short distance along the waterfront in Portland, ME. A swing bridge was abandoned many years ago The tracks are isolated because they can not connect across a bay.
The train has a small diesel locomotive and some very old cars.
Hi all, Speaking of cogs, did anyone catch the N.W.S.L. update on the N.W.S.L. closing thread? No replies or comments to an important cog in the great circle of model railroading life. Thought you might want to know what Davd replied.
Good Morning,
A nice day here.
Been fairly busy lately. Last week I was house/dog sitting for friends. They have 2 keeshonds which are nice dogs. They were breeders who showed dogs too but have now retired from the show aspect. I took the car in for a replacement of a vacuum pump that was leaking oil. The repair cost $350 which is the first repair I have done on the car. Not bad considering it is a 2010 that I've had for 8 years. Mind you it only has 70k miles on it. I was looking at the new ones in the show room and must say I had a little 'sticker shock' at the price of new ones. There was nothing under 60 grand.
Ken, sorry to hear about Sparkie. I know how much he means to you. We have had one dog that passed in her sleep. She ate her breakfast and then had a nap from which she didn't wake up. I hope the same for Sparkie.
I have been running trains a bit lately. I just cleared the tracks so I can put an express on the line. I have to store the passenger cars off layout as there just isn't room. I have 5 express reefers that make a nice train for my Pacific. On a small layout like I have they look good as they are only 50 footers.
I took in my N scale 2-6-6-2 to sell. Such a loco never ran in Canada and while it looks good it can't pull a decent train up the grade, so I hope it can find a good home. I am now done with my N scale loco cull. All locos are now on the layout except for the 2 D&H PAs. I doubt anyone here would be interested in them.
Nice info on British railways. I buy British magazines from time to time and nearly did a British outline N scale layout.
Well time to get some lunch.
CN Charlie
Garry, there is another short tourist rail line in Ellsworth, Maine, just to the mainland side of Bar Harbor. It's a pleasant excursion.
Bar Harbor used to be reached by train from New York, and this was part of that trip.
York1 I guess it's not particularly healthy for me to eat bacon and eggs every single day, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned.
They go back and forth on eggs. Same as butter. One week it is bad for you, and the next not so bad after all.
Concerning bacon, probably okay if eaten in moderation. My doctor did advise me, however, that I should refrain from frying bacon in the nude.
Hump Day Yeah. 87 degrees or something like that in Minnesota today with high humidity.
I did stop at Cowboys tonight see the boys on my way home from wxxk. I always stop Wednesday night ......a $2 burger and $0.50 to add on anything you like. These guys use good beef. I do mushrooms and Swiss + pepper jack with raw onion. My burger $3.50...... are you kidding me? They ask you if you want to see a little pink
I was a good boy, I only had three beers and the half pound burger soaked it up
I saw no need to take the
Cab home tonight.
How have you guys been?
TF