giz

I wasn't implying there was anything wrong with the cars but like Citroen with DS, Genesis was originally a model that they've turned into a brand but they seem to have made a bit of a hash of it according to some US motoring websites.

Regarding Kia, it doesn't seem to have helped Hyundai that much selling their bigger cars as Genesis but there does appear to be some confused marketing going on, especially in the US.

Must admit i didn't try too hard with the Jag XE as I was only driving it between work and home but the Fiat was totally unfathonable. It didn't help that I was in Slovakia at the time.

Most built in navs are pretty crap though compared to online mapping, aren't they? I don't find them particularly worse than other makes, some of which (in Jaguar and Fiat hire hire cars) I haven't even managed to input a destination.

No they aren't. They have been sold in Japan as Lexus for about the last 15 years. Prior to that they were sold as Toyota as the Lexus brand didn't exist in Japan. For example, only the 1st generation of IS has ever been sold as a Toyota (Altezza). From the the 2nd generation on they have only been sold worldwide as a Lexus. There is no equivalent rear drive Toyota. You might as well say that all Audis, Skodas, Seats and Bentleys are Volkswagons as they all contain common parts.

It looks like the single bolster emu version of the BR1 bogie.

Yes, the hole for the switch position is empty so nothing other than the functions listed above.

I believe it is a scale foot or so too short as it was made to fit the standard Triang underframe. It is not related to the later Hornby model of the Vanwide (R242) other than being a model of the same basic type, which was also distorted (too high amongst other things) but didn't have the working doors.

It's supposed to be one of the six BR built Vanwides that had additional ventilators in the doors, possibly for fruit traffic. Edit: Paul Bartlett says there were six, not the three I guessed. Photos here: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brvanwide

Does look rather small. Perhaps not one of my best ideas!

Limas used to do the square headcode version: https://www.ebay.ie/itm/351729151342 It may be possible to graft the nose of one onto the Bachmann model.

I don't think so, none of the ones I have are SC numbered and I have most of the blue or blue/grey releases. Mind you, the versions that they have produced aren't particularly suitable for Scotland except for short periods such as the 105s drafted in during the early 80s which kept their E prefixes anyway. http://www.scot-rail.co.uk/page/class+105 By the time that 101s were in blue/grey all the Scotish ones were 3 car sets which Bachmann haven't made.

Floors in modern houses are designed for an imposed load of 1500N per square metre (150kg/m2) or a point load of 1400N (140kg). I'm not sure when this first became the norm but it certainly dates back to the 1970s. They are usually deflection governed rather than strength so you are likely to get cracked ceilings before it falls down if you overload it! It used to be fairly common to use lightweight block partitions on upper floors but the joists would normally have been doubled up locally to cope. It is not recommended nowadays. I was once asked to check out a floor for the loading from a resident's record collection. I ended up weighing some LPs on my bathroom scales and worked out that he could only have shelving half the hight of the walls, not full height as he would have liked.

It says here that it was used as a mess coach in the Bletchley brakedown train: https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/swindon-79xxx/non-passenger-use

Here's another type of electric loco at Cambridge (although it must be operating in diesel mode): It was used to haul a special at one of the Network Days, not sure which year.

In the office where I work (Dudley) there is a lad from Oldbury and another from Sedgley who have trouble understanding each other at times. I've lived in the area for 15 years now and can pick up the differences, as you say, a few miles is all it takes. I don't think most of the residents of Wolverhampton consider themselves as Black Country, the absence of Black Country flags on display is noticeable compared to Dudley.

There is a photo in 'Diesels on the Regions Scottish Region' by Tom Noble (OPC) of an Aberdeen to Glasgow train in push mode containing a Mk1 RMB. It's dated 30th March 1981 and comprises: DBSO (leading) + FO (full length yellow stripe) + 3 x TSO + RMB + 47707 All blue/grey of course at this date.

It says i would have have saved £22 on the trip I made yesterday but it also says it is beyond the range of a 40kW Leaf so i would have missed the England match. (I made it home at 6:50 pm) Since I used about £30 worth of petrol that means that most of the extra cost I paid is tax. The government will want to recoup this when more people go electric.

So you would need to retile the roof at least twice as often, more likely 3 times. Probably OK in the US as they tend to use short life roofing material anyway but in the UK? I agree with Reorte's comment about looks, normal solar panel on houses look awful.

Not really suitable for large commercial building like we've been talking about though. The other drawback with the Tesla tiles is operating life. As I understand it, PV panel efficiency drops off rapidly at around 20 years or less. A traditional roof tile lasts for at least 60 years so if you want to keep generating you will have to retile your roof much more frequently. Edit: I notice that on their website they that they warrant the tiles for the life of the house but by the wording it looks like that means as tiles, not solar generators.

As long as it doesn't ever snow anymore. The other problem is keeping them attached under wind load, one solution to that is to provide ballast weights but that obviously increases the load on the roof. I've actually carried structural checks on existing buildings where they want to add solar panels, sometimes just after the building I've designed has been completed!

A lot of them aren't even safe for someone to walk on.

Except at night I would guess.

The Toyota/Lexus sysyem and also Ford, I believe, don't have a conventional direct drivetrain. The engine is connected via an epicyclic gearset (they call it the powersplit device or PSD) which in conjuction with an electric motor/generator provides a form of CVT in which IC engine speed is independant of road speed. There is also a second electric motor on the output side. There is no conventional gearbox or any form of clutch. The electronics determine IC engine speed (or lack of it, it often shuts off) depending on a number of parameters. It is in effect an electro mechanical version of the electric transmission you mention. It is this that provides most of the fuel efficiency, not the braking regen.

Definately not a 'tax job'. I own mine (car allowance from work) so it doesn't save BIK but road tax is only £10. I used to have the previous version of this car with a 2.5 litre petrol engine and the hybrid version has the same performance but uses half the fuel. Our other car is a 2.2 litre diesel (150bhp), the hybrid is about 10mpg better around town but about 5mpg worse on a motorway run (50 vs 55).