THOMPSON TWINS

Bachmann body, Comet underframe and Cooper Craft bogies provide the basis for an exciting project.

It's not often that I get to work on coaching stock projects, so it's ironic that a few have turned up at once. Along with the Bulleid stock upgrade mentioned previously, I'm also working on a pair of Bachmann Thompson LNER carriages. Again, using RTR coaches as a basis, new underframes and bogies are being constructed, along with improved interiors and extra details added to the bodyshells. The body of the 'teak' carriage was purchased from the old Hattons store in Liverpool, many moons ago, along with a bunch of other Bachmann carriage shells. At a couple of pounds each, they were bought with the idea that they may come in handy one day and, over a decade later, they've finally found their call.

Comet and Cooper Craft parts are being used in the main, with plenty of bits from the scrap box also being put to good use. Look out for more updates in the coming weeks, once I've put the bogies together and worked out how to mount the bodies to the new underfames...

The first complete underframe ready for its bogies. The improvement over the crudely moulded original chassis is significant. 

The battery boxes are in the wrong place here - I've since set them back a few mm from the inner edge of the solebar, and another pair has been added to the other side. The Comet underframe is fairly straightforward to assemble, with all of the metal castings from the same range.