Flying Yankee

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;{{Cite web |url=http://flyingyankee.org/history/story-of-the-flying-yankee |title=Story of the flying Yankee |access-date=2017-10-17 |archive-date=2017-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017203116/http://flyingyankee.org/history/story-of-the-flying-yankee |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_and_Maine_Railroad_Magazine_May_June_1957_Flying_Yankee_retires.JPG|title=Two Veterans Retire|publisher=Boston and Maine Railroad Magazine|date=May–June 1957|access-date=May 18, 2012| via=Wikimedia Commons}}

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 {{convert|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.

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.

File:Flying Yankee May 2020.jpg

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.{{cite web| url=http://www.concordmonitor.com/flying-yankee-train-railroad-B-M-Concord-10393885| website=Concord Monitor| title=Flying Yankee train won't be returning to Concord| date=June 3, 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.{{cite web |last=Lassen |first=David |url= https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/state-of-new-hampshire-seeks-to-sell-flying-yankee-streamliner/ar-AA1jpIhJ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6ce03a82a3fd484787c0bb5e45375bf8&ei=7 |title=State of New Hampshire seeks to sell 'Flying Yankee' streamliner|publisher=Trains|date=November 5, 2023|accessdate=November 5, 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Franz |first=Justin |date=2024-04-08 |title=New Hampshire Sells 'Flying Yankee' |url=https://railfan.com/new-hampshire-sells-flying-yankee/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=Railfan & Railroad|language=en-CA}}Flying Yankee Association to purchase Budd streamliner Classic Trains September 2024 page 7 It was moved to Conway on July 30, 2024, were it is currently undergoing restoration.{{Cite web |last=Eastman |first=Tom |date=2024-07-31 |title=Flying Yankee back on the tracks in Conway |url=https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news/local/flying-yankee-back-on-the-tracks-in-conway/article_1fd5285a-4e99-11ef-a4d4-876dfc8dfa2c.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=Conway Daily Sun|language=en}}

File:Flying Yankee Budd photo 1935.jpg|Budd company photo of the train in January 1935

File:Flying Yankee menu.JPG|Menu from the train. Food was catered by the Armstrong Company as there was no diner on the train.

File:Flying Yankee 1935.jpg|Rollout of the Flying Yankee at the Budd Company in 1935

File:BM Flying Yankee.jpg|This "drumhead" logo adorned the end of the observation car on the Flying Yankee.

File:The Mountaineer Boston and Maine 1944.JPG|The train as The Mountaineer in 1944

File:Flying Yankee Edaville.JPG|The train in Edaville after its 1957 retirement

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book| last=Pinkepank| first=Jerry A.| title=The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide| publisher=Kalmbach Publishing| location=Milwaukee, WI| year=1973| isbn=0-89024-026-4}}

• [http://streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track3/flyingyankee193605.html B&M/MC Flying Yankee Boston-Bangor April 1936 timetable at Streamliner Schedules]

{{commons category|Flying Yankee}}

{{Lightweight Trains}}

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{{Budd Company}}

{{BM named trains}}

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Category:Boston and Maine Railroad

Category:Maine Central Railroad

Category:Budd multiple units

Category:Named passenger trains of the United States

Category:North American streamliner trains

Category:Articulated passenger trains

Category:Railway services introduced in 1935

Category:Railway services discontinued in 1957