RAILWAY PRESERVATION IS NOT EASY.

Bring money.  And your patience.  And money.  Expect internal politics.  Bring more money.  Get something fixed.  Bring more money.  Keep your patience.

Was it twenty years ago the Flying Yankee Preservation Project won a Trains Preservation Award?  The train itself was near Claremont, New Hampshire at the time, and it will soon be moving to the Conway Scenic Railroad.

Bring your patience.  "[W]ith a little help from the Yankee's friends, the train will roll again."

Expect internal politics, expect project champions to come and go, and bring more money.

Twenty years ago, we noted a Trains preservation award being presented to a group restoring the Flying Yankee streamliner.  The money was to restore to operation one of the few Winton 201A diesel engines, the prime mover that offered proof of concept for the more successful two-stroke diesels General Motors subsequently created.  We have long been hopeful that the train will run again.  Alas, the gentleman who was the principal advocate of its restoration has crossed the final summit, and some combination of New Hampshire and ferroequinologist politics has kept that from happening.  Once, it seemed like the Yankee would be the third Budd articulated train of the Thirties either restored or operable.

That the train was, by 1957, a bit clapped out as well as subject to the limitations of a fixed consist might have had something to do with its being retired. That some railway preservation societies have more will than they have wallet is a reality. I can think of a few Burlington Zephyrs of that era that are still extant but real basket cases.

Since then, one of those basket cases, the Mark Twain Zephyr, has been undergoing restoration in Wisconsin, with a realistic rollout date soon to come.  The Nebraska Zephyr set is back in service at Illinois Railway Museum, now that more conventional seat cleaning methods are again in order.  I do not know the status of the other Twin Zephyr set or the Denver Zephyr set that went to Saudi Arabia.

The Yankee?  New Hampshire currently own it, and they're looking for a serious buyer.  It seems as if we're back to the late 20th century.

Patience matters.  A number of unanticipated challenges cropped up in Spooner, and the rollout date for the augmented Mark Twain Zephyr is yet to be determined.  Work, though, goes on.  Meanwhile, in New Hampshire the serious buyer was a preservation group.

Ownership of the Flying Yankee trainset was officially transferred from the state of New Hampshire to the Flying Yankee Association preservation group today (July 24), and the train could be moved to the Conway Scenic Railroad as soon as next week.

The sale of the 1935 Budd streamliner, nearly identical to Burlington’s Pioneer Zephyr, was approved at today’s meeting of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and the state’s executive council, the Flying Yankee Association announced.

“It is truly an exciting time to be a Flying Yankee fan,” Brian LaPlant, the association’s president, said in a press release. “This beautiful train can now be properly protected, preserved, restored, and one day returned to the rails as a reminder of New England’s historic railroading past.”

The association said it will move the train from its current location in Lincoln, N.H., to Conway in the near future, then work to construct a museum in Conway “to protect the train from the elements long-term and allow the group to begin the restoration process. This construction will be done in partnership with the Conway Scenic Railroad, along with their assistance during the restoration process and with the eventual operation of the train post-restoration.”

This is a developing story, and even if the expected transfer of the train over the Eastern Slope goes on as planned, mechanical work and interior stabilization and the like will still call for patience and money.