The Flying Yankee

The Flying Yankee will be having 1 of 4 open houses starting June 2nd at 10:00am (rain or shine)
The restorations of the truck frames are almost complete with the total price tag of $145,000.

Not mentioned in the website but do they have an engine picked out or a narrowed down list of what kind of engines there looking at? Anyone have information on this?

The latest I heard, they are still evaluating possible engine, generator, and traction motor options.

I'm wondering, has anyone heard anything in regards to an engine for the train? Are they even looking at engines right now? I know their main goal this summer was getting the trucks rehabilitated, which according to the website should be finished up by October.
With Pan Am taking over the Manchester to Concord operations respectively, could this cancel out the plans for a winter home that the Flying Yankee would be stored in? Early word has it, that a museum is to be built in Concord which the Flying Yankee would be put in for display during the winter months.

I think the work on the trucks has consumed a lot of their time and attention lately. If I see Paul Giblin at a meeting somewhere I will ask about the progress.

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The 3rd annual Flying Yankee Gala is scheduled for Saturday, April 19, 2008. Tickets are $65. Some big name sponsors like: Southwest Airlines, Boston Red Sox, Bombardier, FairPoint Communications are just some of the long list of sponsors for this event.
I believe this is the last planned year for the fund raising before work resumes on the train. I believe it was in 2005 or 2006 it was reported that 3 ½ million dollars were needed to complete the project which they planned on raise over the course of three years. I'm not sure what the grand total is to date.

Wish them well and contribute if you can. This is going to be a very difficult time to raise funds for projects. Everyone I know in the industry and the hobby is cutting back on their activities in anticipation of tough economic times ahead.

Anybody heard any recent news on the project, or can you offer any follow up to the April event?

MX

Progress continues on Flying Yankee
The restoration of The Flying Yankee continues and the big news is the completion of the restoration work on the trucks. One last item remains to be corrected after the inspection of the work and the trucks should be arriving back in Lincoln within a month.

Crates have been built to protect the trucks while restoration continues on the rest of the train. At least one of the crates will be open during the summer Open Houses and you’ll be able to see them when you come to visit.

An inspection of the GE 721 Traction Motors was recently performed. One of the Traction Motors is complete and ready to go and the other needs only minor work to make it operational. The Traction Motors should provide at least ten years worth of dependable performance.

Panels with “The Flying Yankee” beautifully painted by Pillsbury Sign Company of Hopkinton Massachusetts were recently placed back on the train, on each side of the Observation Car. What a beautiful job done by Pillsbury Sign Company and we thank them for their contribution to the restoration. They are now working on the large panels, restoring them to their original glory with the Boston and Maine and Maine Central Railroad signage that originally graced The Flying Yankee. Thanks again to Don Pillsbury.

http://www.flyingyankee.com/

How many years have they been working on this anyway? I remember at least since 2001. Are they ever going to get it done?

trainhq wrote:How many years have they been working on this anyway? I remember at least since 2001. Are they ever going to get it done?

How can they get the job done quicker on a train with few standardized parts that was constructed more than 70 years ago? If you're able to, send in a donation, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

-otto-

wow, have some understanding of restoration a restoration can take decades depending on funds, paid labor and volunteer labor. A couple of streetcars at the museum I volunteer for in Maine have taken 20-30 years each. They were not worked on all the time due to lack of funds and people.

trainhq wrote:How many years have they been working on this anyway? I remember at least since 2001. Are they ever going to get it done?

b&m 1566 wrote:Maybe the name of the Flying Yankee its self should also change and call it the Flying Red Sox…….. Yeah but anyways………………….

Not likely, but you're more right than you may think. The Red Sox actually are a sponsor towards the restoration, and have donated services and limited funding to the cause. Including a fundraiser dinner just this past April.

I'm planning to make a donation to the effort, but I want to include with my check a reminder that there are many railfans who would love to see the Yankee visit Crawford Notch again. I think it would be a great tribute to both the late Bob Morrel and Stoney Morrel who did so much to ensure the trainset made it to NH. It would make a great unannounced surprise for a railfan's weekend in the future!
Would anyone else be willing to make noise about this idea?

That said....I have great respect for the crews at Lincoln, and their efforts toward her restoration. Lincoln deserves to be the primary home for the Yankee and I hope it helps increase the popularity of their operation.

I have often thought of that myself but I don't see how it would work out right now nor in the foreseeable future. There is no place to turn the Flying Yankee in N. Conway but it could still go to Bartlett and turn on the wye. If you’re talking about one trip that's fine but multiple trips would require the wye at Quebec Junction to be rebuilt or to reconstruct the wye at Fabyan Station; which I don't believe there is enough room to do so.
Don't forget the different railroads it will have to go through to get there as well.