I broke a Bachmann EM-1 Tender Sideframe

[gkoproske]

I bought another Bachmann EM-1 that had been modified to place a Soundtraxx sound decoder into a non-sound road 7604.  The rear tender truck brass contact strip was not seated right.  I dug in there to pop the middle axle out in order to get at the truck screw.  Well, the sideframe popped off.  Examining it, looks like it just broke off.  Searching Bachmann parts, the truck is not available, but other models may fit.  Anyhow, since this is that slippery engineering plastic, super glue won't necessarily work.  Any advice on how to get that glued back on so I can try to fiddle that axle point contact strip in to correct position?

[mmagliaro]

Can you post a photo of it?  I doubt that it's really fixable.  As you say, no glue is going to work, even with drilled pins and wires through the joint, it will come apart because the sideframe is under pressure to keep the wheels in.  You could try tacking it in position with ACC just to have it in the right spot, and then heat melting across the break with a soldering iron.  Then I would get some scrap plastic and melt it into the joint and across it to beef it up.
Depending on where the break is, if you can bridge it with a shim of brass and put screws through there, that would be a very reliable fix.  But if it snapped off right between the bolster and the sideframe, there won't be any room  for that.

If that doesn't hold...
I'd probably just rebuild the underside of the tender with Kato GS-4 tender trucks.  You will still have to do some scratchbuilding to make them fit, but they are close in appearance and are really excellent trucks.  They are available on kato's website for $15 a pair.

[peteski]

You might be able to "weld" the parts back together using a soldering iron (then clean up the weld "bead" using a hobby knife), but it will not be as strong as the original.  When I do this I set back my iron's temperature to around 350-400 deg. F to have a better control of the welding process.