Took another run at the initial failure to load the original MTS-based project, with a different result.
On a slow PC with Videopad v7.11 (unregistered) it did load, and both previewed and exported with an unwanted parking lot scene between the two interior cuts.
Though the lot could be excised on the sequence it remained in the export. This echoes a report by another user and should be a non-issue in the next VP version.
There was NO unwanted scene when using an mp4 converted source file.