Former Lynn, Mass. Diner opened in New Hampshire
The Riley Bros. Diner formerly located in Lynn, Mass. was moved within the last 5 years to the Ossipee, NH area. I had frequented the diner in the early 1980’s when it traded under names such as The Boston Street Diner and Serino’s Diner. I even recall it was known as Buster’s in the 1970’s.
Boston Street Diner, Boston Street – Lynn, Mass.
November, 1980 photo by Larry Cultrera
This 1941 vintage Sterling Diner had not served food since the mid-1980’s when a new owner gutted the almost original interior and began running a Balloon & Flower Shop out of the building, until he moved the business around the corner to a larger storefront near the corner of Chestnut Street and Western Avenue a few years ago.
the diner operating as a Balloon & Flower Store, photo by Larry Cultrera
The diner after the Balloon & Flower Store moved out, that is Steve Repucci on the right, checking out the diner not long before it moved to NH!
Photo by Larry Cultrera
The diner stood empty for a short time until the property surrounding the diner and other adjacent buildings was developed for a new branch bank. In 2006 the diner was sold and moved to Madison, NH and is owned by the Silver Lake Railroad (a heritage railroad).
Riley Bros. Diner at new location, circa 2006 photo by Brian Page
Here is a blurb from Wikipedia about the SLRR…. The Silver Lake Railroad opened on July 7, 2007, operating from Madison Station (aka Silver Lake Depot) in the town of Madison. This station was a stop for the Boston and Maine Railroad from 1872 until passenger service ended on the line in 1961. The station has been restored over the period from 2002-2007, and much of its original features are intact. The original order boards and stationmaster office were undisturbed, as well as the interior of the station (now housing the Silver Lake post office), which displays its original varnished woodwork. Check out their website at….
http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/thedinertheslrr.htm
I received word from Bob Higgins not long ago that the diner had undergone a retrofitting and been reopened for limited food service at the Silver Lake Railroad. My pal Steve Repucci was in the area this past weekend and checked the place out (his first time seeing it since that time I shot the photo above with Steve in it) . Steve took the next group of photos…….
October, 2010 photo by Steve Repucci
October, 2010 photo by Steve Repucci
October, 2010 photo by Steve Repucci
October, 2010 photo by Steve Repucci
Steve tells me they are not operating as a regular diner possibly due to town Board of Health regulations and of course the SLRR is only open seasonally, in fact the season has just ended. So this means the diner is now closed until spring!
Richard J. S. Gutman to give new “Diner” Lecture
Diner Historian Richard J. S. Gutman is giving a brand-new lecture at
The National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Mass.
on Saturday, November 20th at 2:00 PM.
Part of the Museum’s Lowell Lecture series, the presentation is called…
“What Is It about Diners? More Than a Meal, That’s for Sure”
Richard J. S. Gutman, director and curator of the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI, will hold an illustrated lecture entitled, “What Is It about Diners? More Than a Meal, That’s for Sure.” Gutman will elaborate based on 40 years of eating and research. The lecture complements the exhibition, “Night Road: Photographs of Diners by John D. Woolf.” The lecture is Free and open to the public.
The National Heritage Museum is located at……..
33 Marrett Road (At the intersection of Route 2A and Massachusetts Ave.)Lexington, MA 02421
Diner Hotline Weblog celebrates 3rd Anniversary
Yours truly at Lunch Box Diner in Malden, Mass.
Photo by Denise Cultrera
This Sunday, October 31st marks the 3rd anniversary of Diner Hotline being on the Web! I cannot believe 3 years have gone by since I retired the old hard copy column from the SCA Journal and shortly thereafter, with prodding from Brian Butko, this blog was born! As I write this, the blog has gotten 134, 819 hits and I am hopeful that more and more people are discovering Diner Hotline through internet search engines as well as from connections like Facebook and the like! Thanks to all my faithful readers!
Diner Hotline Weblog 
I want to congratulate you on 3 years of excellence, Larry! I feel very fortunate that I was just getting to know you when you were getting ready to launch Diner Hotline online. It will always mean a great deal to me that out of your gazillions of tremendous diner photographs, you chose one of your Rosedale Diner shots to appear in your banner–since I happened to be grilling you at the time for everything you knew about it and every photo you had taken of it. Here’s to many more years of your wonderful website!
Thank you for “keeping-up” with the diners.. great to see…. I “started ” in a diner after being in the army… 1950’s .. George
Larry, thanks for your website and all your info on it. I will be checking out the Hillsville, VA 1927 O’Mahony Hillsville Diner Thanksgiving week and the 1948 O’Mahony in Winchester, VA known as the Triangle Diner under going restoration since 01/10. I have been reading your stuff for a long time and just wanted to say thank you for people like you out here for us diner lovers. I grew up in Middlesex, NJ one block from Swingle Diners. Maybe you’ve been there too. I remember as a kid (will be 52 in 1 week) the real old diners waiting for work in their lot. I became a truck driver and really started loving diners some 30 odd years ago. for the last 16 I have been in Spartanburg, SC. Go to facebook and see some photos of my trip in a few weeks. there are some diner photos on there now.
Take care,
Neil Perone
Thanks Neil, I’ll look for you on Facebook!
Thanks for keeping us all up to date on what is happening in the world of Diners…I really enjoy being able to have a place to go to be able to keep track of things….you’re helping to keep a piece of Americana alive….Thanks Larry!
Thanks for the compliments Mike! You and Ellen are also doing what you can, keeping the diner tradition going at your Groveland Diner, the one that started many years ago with your own relatives and the diners that they had a hand in running!
I’m catching up on my reading.
Congrats Larry!
I’m still reading. ;-D
I would like to point out the Balloons and Flowers didn’t move to a larger location. In reality it was a smaller location and the reason we moved was because the owner of the diner wanted to tear it down and build a new building, then later sold the property. My grandparents owned the Balloon store and we loved it. We would have stayed there forever. It was my second home. My whole family misses that place.
Thanks for the comment and update on the info Amanda.