Historic Flying Yankee Train to be restored! Trainset tour - August 2024

https://flyingyankee.org/

Just this past month the Flying Yankee Train's ownership was transferred from the State of NH to the Flying Yankee Association with plans to restore it to operation. Immediately after the trainset was trucked from Lincoln, NH to Conway, NH where it will be restored to run on the Conway Scenic Railroad. The FYA has reorganized its leadership and plan to something more reasonably obtainable, in comparison to previous plans for the train. First a storage building will need to be built to house the train then restoration will restart.

This video shows the current state of the train as it was during the Conway Scenic's 50th Anniversary Weekend.

History of the train from the FYA Website:
The trainset known today as the Flying Yankee was built in late 1934 by the Edward. G. Budd Company of Philadelphia. The Boston & Maine Railroad (B&M) received unit #6000 in early 1935 and used it to replace a conventional steam-powered train with that same name. The Flying Yankee was a significant departure from trains at the time. While period-typical passenger cars could weigh 120 tons, the entire three-car trainset weighed only 113 tons and featured the newest technology available at the time. Nearly the entire carbody was constructed from stainless steel, made possible by an innovative construction method called “shot welding” developed by the Budd Company. All three cars were “articulated”, meaning each was semi-permanently attached to the other to provide for a smoother ride.
Among the top technologies featured on the train was the power source. The Flying Yankee was fast, capable of speeds of more than 100 miles per hour and was cheaper to operate than conventional steam locomotives. This was made possible by a six-cylinder, 600 horsepower diesel-engine built by the Electro-Motive Corporation’s Winton Engine Company. The engine was a Winton 201A, the first production diesel engine. The 201A powered the Yankee through its extensive career.

Before the Yankee came the Zephyr, later renamed the Pioneer Zephyr, which was the first of these new streamlined trainsets. It lead such success across the western United States that the B&M purchased their own. In the height of the Great Depression, this train was a beacon of light in New England. It was quiet, shiny, sleek, and modern, in every way different from the trains it replaced. It traveled all over northern New England on its inaugural run and received crowds of people wherever it went.

The Flying Yankee entered service running from Boston, Massachusetts to Bangor, Maine, holding down this route for almost eight years until the train’s 132-seat capacity proved incapable of handling the massive traffic surge during World War II. The train moved to a variety of routes across New York and New England under names such as The Mountaineer, The Minuteman, The Cheshire, and The Businessman. In its celebrated 22-year career, B&M #6000 ran just over 2.7 million miles before it was retired in May of 1957.

Instead of heading to the scrapyard, the Flying Yankee was donated to Edaville, a heritage railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts. It remained there for thirty-six years before it was removed in 1993.

The FYRG continued to exist in a diminished form until 2021, when a new group stepped forward to rebuild the board and restart the restoration. As part of that, the name of the organization was changed to the Flying Yankee Association (FYA). This new board is focused on preserving the train and restoring it to operation while avoiding mistakes made by previous administrations. The new board intends to make fundamental changes in the management of the restoration so that the famous Flying Yankee can ride the rails again.

Fundraising and volunteers are now being called upon for the next phase of the Yankee’s restoration: to build a shelter and museum that the Flying Yankee can be protected from the elements and a place to have restoration work done.

For more information please visit their website (https://flyingyankee.org/) and consider a donation!

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