By Railfan & Railroad Staff
The Boston & Maine Flying Yankee has been put up for sale by the State of New Hampshire and bids are being accepted through January 3, 2024. Among the bidders is the Flying Yankee Association, a recently reorganized non-profit hoping to restore the iconic train to operation.
The Flying Yankee was built by the Budd Company in 1935 and ran in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire for 22 years until it was retired in 1957. It was privately owned and displayed at the Edaville Railroad for 40 years until it was acquired by New Hampshire in 1997. Since then a non-profit group has been trying to restore the train, first at the Claremont & Concord and most recently at the Hobo Railroad. However, in recent years, those efforts have collapsed and little has happened with the train, only the third of its type built in North America.
Starting in the spring of 2021, volunteers updated and filed all the required state and federal documents to bring the group back into good standing and established a new name, the Flying Yankee Association. Along with that came a brand new board of directors, including several members with business and management experience. The group’s new leaders said that past decisions like only using contractors to restore the train hampered progress and now they plan on using a mix of contractors and volunteers to get it done. The Flying Yankee is presently in a “partially restored state.”
The group has been encouraging the state of New Hampshire to put the historic train up for sale and now that is happening. Last week, the group confirmed that it would be one of the bidders.
“The Flying Yankee Association is in a unique position, with both a dedicated team and strong partnerships, to ensure this beloved treasure not only remains true to history, but to have it ride down the tracks under its own power once again,” said FYA’s Chairman Brian LaPlant.
The state has said it would like the train to be protected and ideally restored. More information can be found online.