The Flying Yankee

Unfortunately old diesels aren't very sexy, as compared to steam engines. the people who fondly remember the FY are fading fast. these old timers with fond memories are the kind of people who would and largely did fund what has happened so far. in the meantime the costs to rehab the old girl go higher and higher every day. as we cruise into a time that is 80 to 90 years from the time that the fy was actually flying, steam will still sell rehabs, but now some newer diesels with fond memories alive may get saved, but FY. I'm not by nature a restoration skeptic, but FY's had her 15 minutes of fame and unfortunately a bunch of well meaning folks inadvertently blew it.

I disagree. Thia unit is a timeless classic that will be a good candidate for restoration for years. This is in part due to all the work that has been done already.

Should the state of NH dissolve the FYRG & create a new group that is more competent? Or has FYRG got it's house in order?

Are there any other groups in NH capable of handling this restoration? CSRR is the only one I can think of as a possibility. Pan AM rwy after it is sold to new owners sometime in a few years might be interested in helping.

Moving the Flying Yankee, and placing her on display in Concord is an interesting concept, and the place where the Yankee could be placed could work providing there is protection from both weather elements and an element of society that would vandalize this historical railroad piece. It's sort of ironic that the FY is owned by the State of NH, since NH seems to be very anti railroad industry compared to it's neighboring states. IMHO the FY is an important piece of New England Railroad History and deserves the publicity and support of get her running again, or at least cosmetically restored. The FY has been out of sight, out of mind, under the tarps in Lincoln. If the FY makes a journey from Lincoln to Concord on the rails, the opportunity to see this would be HUGE with all the railroad line's easy visibility along Routes 3 and 93. I hope this all happens.

If it moves to Concord, it is likely to be transported by highway. There is no brake equipment or piping installed in the cars, and at last notice there was no money to install it. The website previously mentioned that the Hobo Railroad donated labor to complete the weatherization because the group ran out of money.

RAS

I heard that donations and enthusiasm were picking up a bit. The owners of the new site are more friendly to the idea of volunteer involvement in moving forward which may be helping to encourage folks. Last I heard, there was still a solid plan to move it by rail...(it might not happen the way you were thinking though).

It's gotta be moved regardless, and someone's got to pay for it....

"Yes sir, would you like to donate to move our train so it can THEN be worked on (possibly,maybe,hopefully?)"

NHV 669 wrote:
"Yes sir, would you like to donate to move our train so it can THEN be worked on (possibly,maybe,hopefully?)"

Why not? It worked for the guys doing the 470 project...

Big Difference. 470 is being moved for the first time in many decades, and has a well-put together and managed group doing the work, and quite knowledgeable at that. They are also taking on the daunted task of moving a very heavy steam locomotive. I have seen nothing but frequent updates on what is going on up there in terms of progress for that group.

I watched the FY ride past Bethlehem Elementary by truck on 302 when I was staring out the window in fourth grade. I heard of how it went here, went there, and was recieving all kinds of work, albeit at a volunteer pace.

Fast foward nearly two decades. I'm almost thirty, the FY hasn't left the state, and is still halfway put together in a variety of stages on a property whose owner doesn't want it there. And then I hear of how they put TV monitors in this creature. Bad enough they can't get money together, and they're doing a historically inaccurate restoration! I'm not one of them, so I can't speak for the situation, but it seems that two decades should produce something that isn't halfway there with no place to live/money to move it/work on it

Flying Yankee will need more time, a lot more time. Their public record filings were being discussed on another website, so I took a look (foundationcenter.org). In 2013 the FYRG reported only $440 in donations and contributions on their 990-EZ filing. If there is $3 million of work remaining to be done, a reasonable estimate according to persons who have worked on it, it would take 6818 years to complete at $440 a year, if the price does not go up between now and then.

RAS

well the good news is that it's made mostly of stainless steel so it should certainly be able to hold out 7000 years. (I think it's safe to round off here.)

The Claremont Concord Railway was sold to the NECR (G&W).
The Flying Yankee spent some time at the Claremont Jct.
Engine House, before going to Lincoln. I do not know if
the NECR bought the engine house and related property
or not. At last report, there were two Alco switchers, one
operable and one OOS inside the engine house. The Alcos
are reportedly for sale. If the entire engine house was
vacant, most or all of the FY would fit inside. Perhaps, some
tools and other repair equipment might still be left for work
on the FY.

now if you could only dig up the guy who used to work at ccr and headed up the project, but left no notes..If he's still around close by, he could be very helpful.

I know one of the people who worked on the Flying Yankee at Claremont & Concord. He works for another railroad now.

But I doubt that he could be persuaded to get involved with the FYRG again given the current lack of direction of this project, and the obvious lack of any sources of funding.

RAS

i can not remember the guys name, but this fellow actually managed the project for most of the time it was at ccr. he was no restoration expert but he had a good mechanical mind and made a lot of progress. unfortunately the group ran out of funds and i think that there was a dust up over a desire to switch gears or at least engines. ccr bailed, the guy who ran it went else where. but one of the biggest kicks in the head supposedly was that there was virtually no project diary and or related pictures. and that is why if this guy is still alive if he could be interviewed it might be very helpful to have a fuller understanding of what was or wasnt done in the initial stages.