View source for Flying Yankee

{{Short description|American trainset}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox Locomotive
| name = ''Flying Yankee''
| powertype = Diesel
| image = General Electric Flying Yankee advertisement, February 1938, train only.jpg
| imagesize = 250
| caption = 
| builder = [[Budd Company]] and [[Electro-Motive Diesel|Electro-Motive Corporation]]
| buildmodel = BM-MEC 6000
| builddate = 1935
| totalproduction = 1
| aarwheels = B-2
| gauge = {{RailGauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| bogies = [[Jacobs bogie|Jacobs]]
| primemover = Winton 201-A
| enginetype = [[Diesel engine|Diesel]]
| cylindercount = 8
| operator = [[Boston and Maine Railroad]]
| locale = [[North America]]
| deliverydate = February 1935
| lastrundate = May 7, 1957
| retiredate = 1957
| currentowner = Flying Yankee Association
| disposition = Undergoing restoration to operating condition
}}
{{Infobox rail service
| box_width       = 
| name            = ''Flying Yankee''
| logo            = 
| logo_width      = 
| image           = 
| image_width     = 
| caption         = 
| type            = [[Inter-city rail]]
| status          = Discontinued
| locale          = [[New England]]
| predecessor     = 
| first           = 1935
| last            = 1957
| successor       = 
| operator        = 
| formeroperator  = Boston and Maine Railroad<br>[[Maine Central Railroad]]
| ridership       = 
| start           = [[North Station]]
| stops           = 
| end             = [[Bangor Union Station]]
| distance        = {{convert|254|mi|km}}
| journeytime     = 5.5-6 hours
| frequency       = Daily except Sunday
| trainnumber     = Northbound: 15<br>Southbound: 16
| line_used       = 
| class           = 
| access          = 
| seating         = [[Passenger car (rail)#Coach|Streamline coaches]] (1954)
| sleeping        = 
| autorack        = 
| catering        = [[Dining car|Restaurant lounge car]], catering by The Armstrong Company 
| observation     = 
| entertainment   = 
| baggage         = 
| otherfacilities = 
| stock           = 
| gauge           = {{RailGauge|ussg}}
| el              = 
| speed           = 
| owners          = 
| routenumber     = 
| map             =  {{Flying Yankee}}
| map_state       = collapsed
}}
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 Diesel|Electro-Motive Corporation]]. It was the third streamliner train in North America.<ref name=retire/> 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. In May of 2025 the trainset was added to the [[New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places]] by the [[New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources|states preservation office]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Flying Yankee recognized in state register of historic places |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/flying-yankee-recognized-in-state-register-of-historic-places/ |website=Trains |access-date=12 May 2025 |date=12 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NH’s deep history reflected in most recent listings to the NH State Register of Historic Places |url=https://www.dncr.nh.gov/news-and-media/nhs-deep-history-reflected-most-recent-listings-nh-state-register-historic-places |website=www.dncr.nh.gov |access-date=12 May 2025 |date=12 May 2025}}</ref>

==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;<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=retire>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref name=retire/>

The train was delivered in February 1935, and toured the BM-MEC railroad system before entering service on April 1.<ref name=retire/> 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 (Boston and Maine)|Mountaineer]]'', and ''Business Man''.<ref name=retire/>

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.<ref name=retire/> 

Most of the train's route is currently operated by [[Amtrak]]'s ''[[Downeaster (train)|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]].
[[File:Flying Yankee May 2020.jpg|thumb|The Flying Yankee sitting at the Hobo Railroad in 2020, with its trucks removed]]
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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Yankee>{{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 (magazine)|Trains]]|date=November 5, 2023|accessdate=November 5, 2023}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>Flying Yankee Association to purchase Budd streamliner ''[[Classic Trains]]'' September 2024 page 7</ref> It was moved to Conway on July 30, 2024, were it is currently undergoing restoration.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

<gallery widths="180px" heights="180px" perrow="4">
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 (sign)|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
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book| last=Pinkepank| first=Jerry A.| title=The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide| publisher=[[Kalmbach Media|Kalmbach Publishing]]| location=Milwaukee, WI| year=1973| isbn=0-89024-026-4}}
== External links ==
* [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}}
{{EMD misc}}
{{Budd Company}}
{{BM named trains}}
{{Maine Central}}

[[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]]