Two of the tender truck side frames on my B&O Pacific loco (Lionel/Flyer) fractured (see photos). Does anyone know where I can get replacement parts for either the side frames or the entire tender truck assembly? The side frame of the truck is a separate die cast part that is held onto the truck with a single screw. Doug Peck does not carry the parts, but he suggested contacting Lionel service center. I contacted Lionel and they said they do not have the parts in stock.
Thanks, Ke
n Orlowski
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Ken, the trucks on the 2008 TMCC Pacific and the new Legacy pacific appear to be identical. Below are pictures of the underside of both. The Lionel parts site does not list the trucks for the new Pacific but there is a chance the trucks are in Lionel inventory but not yet cataloged. This is a problem for a whole lot of Lionel S gauge items. S gauge appears to be at the bottom of the priority list for parts inventory updates. Someone at the Lionel warehouse would have to manually search the “pending” shelves to see if the trucks are there.
Looks like a break that a bonder like JB Weld may work if all else fails.
I tried JB Weld with the first break. It seemed to work well, but unfortunately the part is so fragile that it broke again in a different location during re-assembly. I will try JB Weld again, but I certainly would like to have a completely new part---eventually.
My experience is once a Lionel AF sideframe breaks it is pointless to bond it together because it will break elsewhere. I have over a hundred AF replacement sideframes but they will not fit on the Pacific/Mikado tender trucks, the wheelbase is far too long and they use a two screw attachment. First contact Lionel again and see if they have replacements for the new Legacy Pacifics. If they do not, then the best alternative I see is to buy an American Models 4 wheel tender truck and adapt the mount to the Pacific tender.
I put the two side by side, the AM truck wheelbase is slightly longer but it looks like it will fit with no clearance issues. AM has them in stock, #4WHTK, at $40.
Well, I've tried Lionel Service again and they were no help whatsoever. Lionel gave me the number of S&W parts supply as a good place to try. I called them and they had no Lionel/Flyer parts at all. So, it looks like I am SOL as far as finding replacements tender trucks for either the original Lionel/Flyer Pacific/Mikados or the more recent versions with Legacy. I've done the best I can with the JB Weld fix, but who knows how long that will last (probably a long time if I leave the engine on the shelf). It's amazing how fragile the diecast side frame is on those tender trucks---it's like work with a Ritz cracker!
BTW, my original truck side frame breakage occurred when of the of the little chains the run from the tender chassis to the end of the side frames came disconnected while operating the engine on my layout. When the chain hung down it got hooked on some part of the track and just broke the side frame apart. So, watch out for loose chains on the tender trucks.
Ken
So far none of my TMCC tenders have had this failure. I will need to treat them with care, but they stay on the layout ready for assignment.
Contact Harmonyards. He may be able to come up with a mechanical fix.
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