This page has photos of our 1961 Comet taken in front of Diners that have gone to die in Rhode Island.
What better place than the birthplace of the Diner, Rhode Island, for old Diners to go and die. Rhode Island is literally littered with old Diners that were moved to the state with good intent but have remained in storage with no signs of revival. This page is dedicated to those diners.
Foster Street Diner, Shannok, Rhode Island This 1927 Worcester Lunch Car #598 was in Peabody where it was known as the Main St Diner, 1928-1940. It then moved to Foster St and was known as the Driftwood II Diner and the Red Rambler Diner. While taking this photo I ran into the owner (did not get his name) and he plans to restore the diner and keep it right where it is. Below are some pictures of the inside.
Silver Top Diner, Pawtucket, Rhode Island Originally in Providence, RI. This Kullman built diner was constructed in 1937. It no sits in a lot in Pawtucket. As you can see it looks like no one has touched it in years. In 2000 it was on the Providence Preservation Society's Ten Most Endangered Properties list.
Quincy's Midway Diner, Smithfield, Rhode Island Worcester Lunch Car #659 sits next to the athletic field at the high hchool in Smithfield, Rhode Island. Once called the Quincy Midway Diner and the Apple Tree Diner. This 1930 diner had been planned to be restored by the high schools industial arts program and used as a consession stand for sporting events. As you can see it does not look like the program really got off the ground.
Dinner Belle Diner, Exeter, Rhode Island This 1936 Sterling Diner was also called Muggsy's Diner and Finely Fran's Diner and was the 3rd diner built by J. B. Judkins and the oldest still around. It now sits on the grounds of the Exeter Job Corps Academy in Rhode Island. It does not look like much has been done to it.
Poiriers Diner, Providence, Rhode Island The diner was built in 1947 by Kullman Dining Car Company and opened as Poirier's Diner. In 1961 it was renamed Squire’s Diner. It then changed Arnold’s Diner, Top Hat, Krystal’s, and finally El Faro. It is now in storge at 1455 Westminster St and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Subject: Immediate Release - Historic Diner Being Moved on Tuesday, December 13th - Immediate Release
The historic Poirier's Diner (a 1947 Kullman, the second Diner in Rhode Island to be individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places) is on the move!
For more than 50 years, and under many different names, such as "Armand's, Krystal's, the Top Hat, Arnold's and most recently, the El Faro, the Diner served the working men and women of Olneyville at its location on Atwells Avenue at Eagle Square. Saved from the wrecking ball when Eagle Square was mostly demolished, on this coming Tuesday the 13th, the Diner will be placed on a truck and rolled down the block to its new home at 1380 Westminster Street on Providence's historic West Side.
Developer Jon Özbek has begun a full scale renovation of the diner with the help of BankRI, General Contractor Stack Design / Build of Providence, the RI Historic Preservation & Heritage Commission, the Providence Revolving Fund, and MODA, LLC. This project represents a significant investment in the City's burgeoning West Side business community, while it will also create new jobs.
This restaurant will be the fourth collaboration between Jon Özbek and Michael Sears, who together have brought Loie Fuller's, The Avery, and Ama's to the West Side of Providence. The Diner will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week. And it will feature an updated version of classic American Diner fare, along with a full bar and outdoor patio seating. It is expected to open in the Spring / Summer of 2012.
Rich's Annex Diner, Cranston, Rhode Island This Worcester Lunch Car #708 began life in 1933, in Newburyport, Massachusetts as the annex half of Rich's Diner. The diner eventually moved Wonderland Dog Track in Revere, Massachusetts, in 1936. It moved to Concord, New Hampshire in 1937 where it became Louis' Diner. It closed in 1999 and eventually moved to the Rhode Island Training School. It looks like nothing has been done to it since.
West End Diner, Cranston, Rhode Island This 1920's Tierney built diner was originally called the West End Diner and was located in Meriden, Connecticut. It was also called Gaffney Family Diner. It now resides at the Rhode Island Training School.
Sherwoods Diner, Cranston, Rhode Island Worcester Lunch Car #755 from 1940 was origionally located in Medford Massachusetts. In 1941 it was repossessed, resold and placed on in Worcester, Massachusetts until the 1970s. It then moved to Auburn, Massachusetts where it became an ice cream stand. In 1999 it was put in storage at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. In 2006 it was moved to the Rhode Island Training School where is sits with no activity in quite some time..
UPDATE: It looks like the Sherwood Diner is getting another chance at life! The city of Worcester is teaming up with the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Worcester Historical Museum and the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in an effort to make the diner part of the Blackstone Valley visitors center. It now sits at Package Industries Inc. on Harback Road in Sutton, MA waiting restoration. $5.4 million in federal money and $1.6 million in matching state money has been allocated for a visitors center and if the plans are approved the diner could see some of those funds.
Other Diners reported to be dying in Rhode Island....
Russel's Diner
Russel's Diner, 1947 WLC #801 from Quincy Massachusetts. It also was Trader Allan's Truck Stop in Amesbury Massachusetts. It now is reported to reside in Central Falls Rhode Island on Higginson Ave. I could not find it but with the many storage facilities and large buildings in that area I may be inside one of them.
Dandy Diner
Dandy Diner 1933 WLC #718 origionally in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Reported to be in storage in Providence but location unknown.
Hickey's Lunch Wagon
Hickey's Lunch Wagon, 1947 WLC #798 origionally in Taunton, Massachusetts. Reported to be located at the Rhode Island Training School but I could not see it from outside the security fence. It is however visible on the Google Maps satellite view.
The Christmas photo is a postcard Of Taunton Green from 1954 with Sully's Luch Wagon. Hicky's Lunch Wagon is just to the tight of the Christmas Tree.
Johnny B's Diner, Cranston, Rhode Island Johnny B's Diner, built in 1926 as a horse-pulled lunch wagon. It was moved to Cranston High School West where there are plans for the students to restore it. I am sorry to announce that Johnny B's is no more! I contacted the director of the Cranston West Techincal School and I was informed that it does not exist anymore. No explaination what happend to it. Photo by the Providence Journal
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