If you check out the Flying Yankee web site you will note that it was not the observation end that was damaged, but the head end. Looking at the photo, one wonders if the engineer survived.

Just visited the Yankee Flyer at the Hobo RR in Lincoln N.H. The Flyer is alive and well but proceeding very slowly due to lack of funding. However, the status of the restoration provides significant hope for this important train. Structural restoration and weatherproofing of the entire trainset is complete and restoration of the interior is proceeding. The middle coach section has been completed and it is a very high quality restoration, indeed. When the interior is complete the plan calls for restoration of the undercarriage of the cars. The trucks were rebuilt several years ago and I was told that they are are both FRA and AMTRAK compliant. The plan is to complete the work on the undercarriage some time in 2015 and get the cars back on their trucks. Once the trainset is back on its wheels it is hoped to take it "on the road" to generate interest and funding for the final repowering phase.

The original Winton 201A diesel is complete but is in poor condition. There is no plan to restore this engine to operation due to the almost complete lack of proper spare parts. The wish is to repower the trainset, but there is no specific plan until funding is found.

For those who are interested in a quite detailed and lengthy discussion of the challenges presented by the Flying Yankee restoration, there is a discussion on the railroad(dot)net website under the Railroading and Railfanning by Region and State/New England Railfan section that covers quite a few years of information postings on the progress and issues involved in the project.

It is sad to note that some of the early participants in that discussion have now passed away.

PC