The Flying Yankee is a diesel-electric streamliner built in 1935 for the Boston and Maine Railroad by Budd Company and with mechanical and electrical equipment from Electro-Motive Corporation. It was the third streamliner train in North America. That train ceased passenger service in 1957 and is stored at the Conway Scenic Railroad in New Hampshire. It was owned by the state of New Hampshire, until it was purchased by the Flying Yankee Association after being selected by the state of New Hampshire to receive ownership of the diesel streamliner.

History

Prior to 1935, the name Flying Yankee referred to a passenger train that ran between Bangor, Maine, and Boston, Massachusetts, at least back to 1891. The train was hauled by an early 4-6-2 steam locomotive; cars were standard heavyweight construction. The new Flying Yankee in the 1930s was a lightweight train constructed with welded stainless steel using Budd's patented process. The engine was an 8-cylinder Winton 201-A diesel, driving a generator; the lead truck was equipped with traction motors. It was fitted with air conditioning in all cars. No dining car was provided; instead, meals were prepared in a galley and served to passengers in trays that clipped to the back of the seat in front. It was the third streamliner in service after the Union Pacific's M-10000 and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad's Pioneer Zephyr. The Flying Yankee was a virtual clone of the latter, except that it dispensed with the baggage/mail space to seat 142 in three articulated cars. The train was delivered in February 1935, and toured the BM-MEC railroad system before entering service on April 1. The daily route served began in Portland, then to Boston, followed by a return to Portland and continuing to Bangor, Maine, returning through Portland to Boston and finally returning to Portland late in the day, a distance of 750 mi per day. This schedule was kept six days a week; the trainset spent Sundays undergoing maintenance. The train proved extremely successful, attracting new ridership and earning a profit for its owners. Later on, as newer equipment replaced it on one route, it would be switched to other routes, bearing the names Cheshire, Minute Man, Mountaineer, and Business Man. As railroad passenger ridership declined in the 1950s, the Yankee was also getting old, and thus the trainset, as The Minuteman, was retired, running its last on May 7, 1957. Most of the train's route is currently operated by Amtrak's Downeaster, which runs as far north as Brunswick, Maine.

Current location

The railroad donated the trainset to the Edaville Railroad tourist/museum operation in Carver, Massachusetts, in 1957. The train remained on static display there until it was moved in 1993 to Glen, New Hampshire, after being purchased by Bob Morrell, then-owner of Story Land. In 1997, the train was moved to the Concord and Claremont Railroad shops in Claremont, New Hampshire, for a restoration after it was purchased by the state of New Hampshire. By 2004, the major structural restoration had been completed, and detailed restoration of components is ongoing with the goal of restoring the train completely to running condition. The train was moved on August 10, 2005, to the Hobo Railroad in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Plans to move it to Concord, New Hampshire, site of a former Boston and Maine railyard, fell through in 2017. In November 2023, the state of New Hampshire put the equipment up for sale, with a focus on "the relocation and encouraged restoration" of the trainset. In April 2024, the trainset was sold to the Flying Yankee Association, who hopes to restore and operate the set in the Mount Washington Valley, with a possibility of running it on the Conway Scenic Railroad. It was moved to Conway on July 30, 2024, were it is currently in storage awaiting for restoration.