History of the Flying Yankee
The trainset known as the Flying Yankee was built in 1935 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 new Flying Yankee was a significant departure from conventional 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 are “articulated”, meaning each car is semi-permanently attached to the other.
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 an eight-cylinder, 600 horsepower 201A diesel engine built by the Winton Engine division of the Electro-Motive Corporation, itself a division of General Motors. The 201A is the predecessor of many diesel engines produced by GM and is considered the engine that proved the concept of diesels in North American railroading. The 201A is coupled to a generator that turns mechanical power into electricity to power electric motors on the axles, called traction motors, that move the train. 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 purchased in 1993 by Robert S. Morrell, founder of Heritage New Hampshire and Storyland, an amusement park. Morrell had hoped to obtain a contract to operate the former Maine Central Mountain Division rail line owned by the State of New Hampshire. He intended to restore the Flying Yankee and operate it there. Morrell was not successful in obtaining the contract, and in July of 1996, he sold the Flying Yankee to the State of New Hampshire. That same year, the Flying Yankee Restoration Group (FYRG) was formed. The plan was for the State and the FYRG to work together to raise funds and restore the train to operation. The restoration began in November of 1997 at the Claremont & Concord Railroad’s shops in Claremont, NH. As the skilled staff in Claremont began the work, it quickly became apparent that nearly four decades outside had not been kind to the Yankee, and the train was in much worse shape than anyone had imagined. Despite significant donations from the Morrell family and grants from the Federal Highway Administration, funding fell short of what was needed. By 2003, the FYRG was out of money, and work ceased. The working relationship between the FYRG and the Claremont and Concord deteriorated, and the FYRG made the decision to relocate the train. It took two years to determine what to do with the Yankee. The FYRG ultimately decided to relocate the train to the Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad (better known as the Hobo Railroad) of Lincoln, NH for the next phase of restoration. Arrangements were made, and the Yankee was moved to Lincoln by road in August of 2005. The plan then was to start a multi-million-dollar capital campaign that would provide funds for restoration and create an endowment fund that could support the Yankee after restoration was completed. Enough funding was found to begin some work on the train while the capital campaign ramped up. Restoration of the trucks began in January of 2007 and was completed in July of 2008. However, the fundraising efforts failed to bring in the funds expected, and the project stalled again.
Thanks to the generosity of the Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad, the Yankee then remained securely stored in their yard for nearly twenty years. 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. Fundamental changes have been made to the restoration plan so that the famous Flying Yankee can ride the rails again.
On July 24th, 2024, after an extensive Request for Proposal process by the State of New Hampshire’s Department of Transportation in November 2023, ownership of the Flying Yankee was sold to the FYA for $1.00 after the Governor and Executive Council voted to approve the sale.
Then, on July 30, 2024, the FYA wasted no time and moved the Yankee from the Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad (now the Granite State Scenic Railway) by truck across the Kancamagus Highway rail yard to Conway, NH. For the first time since the 1930s, the Flying Yankee is once again sitting on tracks it used to regularly run at the peak of its service. The Yankee is currently located in the Conway Scenic Railroad yard awaiting the next step in its journey, the construction of a building to house the train.
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 in and to provide a place to complete the restoration.