Tumble Down Falls Railway: Timpdon Two Compartment Carriage

As a addition for my IP Railbus, at the National Garden Railway show in Peterborough I bought a Timpdon 2 Compartment Coach kit, a gentle project to pass the time on dark knights. On getting the kit home I was very pleased when opening the box.

	All the items are already removed from the fret, little or no pips visible and nicely bagged up in to individual groups. So assembly can start immediately (see note). In the main assembly is per the instructions, so I will not go in to detail, except where I consider it is required - so main body assembled.

	Roof a little more tricky than the instructions intimate, but with some bending clamping and elastic bands it does form well.
These just glue onto the frame fitted in the body to allow the glass windows to just slide in. Note I should have painted these before fitting, painting when in place is not easy 😮

	With the coach body assembled, two coats of sanding sealer was applied, lightly sanding in between. The inside of the windows and roof were masked and a coat of primer (white) was applied. Finally the area to be painted cream was masked and the top coat (2 in fact) of burgundy was sprayed using the trusty rattle can.
Soon after spraying, the burgundy, when touch dry the masking was removed, then the assembly left for the paint to harden for a week. The inside, roof and burgundy areas were masked and the cream (2 coats again) was sprayed, again the masking again removed when touch dry, and again left for a week. Adornment were added to the outside, all from GRS, "T" handles; door lovers; rear steps, tail lamp bracket. Decals are courtesy of Stan Cedarleaf.
	Inside the seats were fitted, "coffee stirrers" were used to panel the end walls, and were varnished. The floors, doors, windows and seats were painted: Note should have done this before fitting. The seats covered in felt, and using "tongue depressors" these were cut to size and covered in felt as seat backs. The outer body is wash down gently in water, and left for a week for the decals to harden.
The wheels supplied with the kit are plastic, and I do like metal wheels on my rolling stock, so 24 mm spoked weeks were bought from GRS, however the stub axles were only 2 mm diameter, and the axle hub holes in the hangers were 3 mm. Luckily in the bits box I had some 3 mm tube which was 2mm inside diameter. My initial thoughts were to fix them on the axles, but common sense got the better of me, and used them as bushes in the hubs.
	Final touches were applied: Hand rails. A coat of clear varnish, especially to protect the decals. Wheels and hubs. Buffers complete with coupling hook. Steps and chassis boarding. Vents to the roof.
After the photos passengers were added to the inside as the final touch.
	After the trial run, the carriage was found to be a little light. A section at each end was sectioned off using a "coffee stirrer" and then my favourite method was employed to add weight, divers ballast shot is added, and then potted with 2 part polyurethane resin. A work of caution, if there are any gaps the resin will seep through so ensure the area is fully sealed.
Connected to the Railbus, as it was designed for.