N Gauge 9F - broken pick-up wire

[Gremlin]

I have  a 9F where the pick-up wire between the tender and the loco body has "come away" from the loco body on the left side.  Unlike some (?) Britannia locomotives (see photo Brit8.jpg at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/20828-Dapol-britannia/ for what I *don't* have), the wires are not screwed into the base of the loco shell, they appear to be soldered at a very inconvenient location.

 

On the left side of the loco body there is all sorts of piping attached by glue (?) and if I don't remove them, they will probably be damaged by the soldering iron.

 

So...any suggestions of how to reattach the pick-up wire without soldering, has anyone retrofitted screw attachments like in the Britannia?  Or, how can I solder the wire back without destroying the fine pipework?

[Dr Al]

You can remove the body of the loco which should have the pipes attached, thus removing them from obstructing the pickup.

When soldering, be quick as the chassis block is plastic, so you don't want to dump too much heat into the pickup or wire as the pickup may become detached from the plastic chassis.

 

Cheers,

Alan