Replacing missing tender step

Ray,

Can you possibly give us a picture?  Does it look like the molded on steps we see

on most tenders or is it metal?

What type of crazy glue did you use?  The only one I swear by is made by "Loctite", and you could use the liquid or the gel of the same.  I am not familiar with the tender, and how the step is part of the shell, without a photo to see what you're dealing with.  My main "go-to" for repairs is actually "JB-Weld", which you can get the normal 2 tube slow cure, or opt for the fast cure, if you can find it.  I have repaired/replaced broken marker lights on Postwar steam engines, with fantastic results.  Like Swanko posted, a photo would help.

Ray, is it die cast or plastic?  If plastic I'd try some MEK if your neck of the woods allows it, it melts the 2 pieces together.  I use Gorilla brand super glue, been good so far.

If die cast, JB Weld would be my choice, but super glue may do the job and is a lot less messy.

I'm another JB-Weld fan.  I use both the standard and the JB-Kwik.  They get a lot of use here, and I suspect that will be your best option.

Call Bauchmann and they should help you. If the step is broken in multiple spots, than it is best to buy a new one.

Plastic-to-plastic bonds are best done with plastic cement - like Testors. This is not really a glue - it's a solvent (like MEK - maybe it IS MEK), and actually makes the 2 pieces one.

Some plastics do not respond to standard plastic cement. Yours probably will.

Now - if the Lionel part is die-cast - never mind.

Get some JB-weld or the like at the hardware store and follow the instructions; you may want to add a small piece of reinforcement behind the steps and under the epoxy, just for mechanical strength.

Epoxy does not always like sticking to all plastics (experience), but this should be fine.

To answer a question, the step was an intragal part of the shell (molded on).  The Lionel step I got is die cast metal.  I used a slow acting type of crazy glue that you apply with a brush.  So far it is holding but a bump probably would loosen it.

Ray

You actually never answered the question of what material the tender is.

FWIW, JB-Weld will adhere to most plastics that are used for shells, and it works great on diecast parts.  The slippery soft plastics that CA adhesive won't stick to are also a problem for the JB-Weld and many other adhesives.

The tender is hard plastic.

JB-Weld would work fine.

I would highly recommend JB Weld. It is strong enough to hold my many prewar steam switcher marker light repairs.

Some of my steam switchers also had their cab steps sheared off. I bought a frame with drive wheels in the last year if I never want to delve into molding and casting...until then, I fabricated a close enough repair from copper...and besides using it as a glue it also did double-duty here as JB Weld was used to fill in the center of the step. 

Tom