Sw a post of the Flying Yankee on Facebook and someone comments that the project is out of money and dead. I went to their website and it's not been updated since 2012. Any news on the project? Is it dead?

State of NH says no, not dead yet, FYRG hasn't said much of anything lately (per Tom's observation about the website), but there was a statement in the newsletters last year that the Hobo Railroad had donated the last of the labor to complete the weatherization project (necessary because the tent is deteriorating).

So take your pick, and if anybody sees any work being done, please let us know.

PC

Haven't gotten an email update from them in quite a long time, about a year.

Looks like my $10k donation went down the crapper!

Here is the link to the website Tom mentioned:

http://flyingyankee.com/

As he noted, the last activities listed are for 2012 and nothing has been posted in 2013.

PC

Sorta brings to mind the ARRM and its 1361 K4s fiasco.

Photos from the trip my wife and I made to New England in 2005 (Amtrak LA to Boston) cycle through the "screen saver" on one of our computers. From time to time we get views of the "Yankee" as it was 8 years ago. Sounds like the project has fallen on hard times since then.

Whoa! Easy guys. Don't go jumping to conclusions! If you've donated money then contact them and find out what they are doing with it. There may be so many reasons why NH is taking it's time with the Yankee. We were hit hard up here during the hard times a few years ago. The recent weather hasn't helped either.
I know for a fact that the Conway Scenic RR is looking forward to the day that the Yankee can ride their rails again. Hobo RR also been generous to allow the train to take up a big chunk of their land, note that there has been no talk of it moving. The cover over the Yankee may be getting old, but consider if there was no cover.
I say contact them. Get them rolling again. Ask them what they need. It may not be just money.

Brian Hebert

This project would have been done long ago if the State of NH wasn't so cheap.
They should put up some money to get this finished. This project has gone on for to may years.
I gave up giving because of this. I figured it wouldn't get done in my life time.
But there also seems to have been some good money wasted when they decided to replace the original engine with something else.
There is way to much politics involved with this project also.

Cheap? Politics? Please elaborate. You must know something we don't.

Brian

You can search these files for Flying Yankee info years ago. I think the summary is that the Flying Yankee is older and more delicate than anyone really appreciated. It has more in common with wooden coaches and steam than a 1950's streamliner. That is, it is a specialized non-standard design, parts are not available, and the original power plant is non-maintainable.

If they finish the job, it will basically be the original shell mounted on an all new power train.

It is a big job, and if there wasn't a stuffed and mounted historic piece at the Chicago museum, I would say they were making a gross error with the Flying Yankee. But, with one vacuum preserved specimen, I guess one can be re-manufactured for joy rides.

What comes to mind is the McKeen car at the Nevada State RR Museum. Body-wise, it has all the "steampunk" appearance that it had a hundred years ago, but it runs thanks to a Caterpillar diesel engine and a hydraulic drive system--not original, but much more practical in the 21st Century. We could also mention the "Skunk" cars of the Cal Western, which were re-engined with Cummins diesels 50 or 60 years ago.

From the getgo-that whole project was a 'Ted Mack Amateur Hour' type affair. The 'tell'
was the phrase 'Amtrak compatible', which was used multiple times...in relation to the project. Did anyone involved REALLY believe that Amtrak would let that train operate on its lines ? Better yet, who in their right mind would want to operate the thing...with almost no protection for the guy in the cab.

The antique motorcycle guys have evolved 180 degrees...from the now out of style 100 pt. restorations to maintaining the original patina-only doing enough work to make the bike safe to ride.

Too bad FY didn't take the later path-and construct a suitable display building for the train.

DPK

Regarding crash worthiness of these trains, the power car of the original "Pioneer Zephyr" is not really original. The train was involved in an collision October 2, 1939 near Napier, Missouri, that destroyed the power car back to the center of the RPO section. The engineer and road foreman riding in the power car were both killed in that accident. Budd fabricated a replacement front half of the power car which was grafted onto the train by the Aurora Shops. Reference: Railway Age, March 2, 1940, page 397.

PC

I believe she also got rear ended in about 1944, destroying half the observation car.

Steve