BREAKING NEWS: OWNERS OF EDAVILLE RAILROAD FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY
The owners of Edaville USA in Carver, MA have filed for bankruptcy according to a news report on WJAR (channel 10, NBC affiliate), Providence. The park's assets will supposedly be sold off to big creditors. Edaville had purchased (but not installed, according to reports) Whalom Park's Tumble Bug a year or two ago, once again leaving the future of this rare and classic ride very much in doubt.
Text of a news wire story on the topic:
The Edaville Railroad, a tourist attraction that took visitors on a quaint ride through cranberry country, will be liquidated after the owner of its parent company filed for bankruptcy.
Jon Delli Priscoli, owner of Cranrail Corp., filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy on Thursday, The Standard Times of New Bedford reported. Edaville Railroad will be among the assets sold to pay his creditors.
The move comes four years after Cranrail bought the abandoned railroad's 1,500 acres of property, its owners saying they hoped to turn the railroad into New England's premier attraction for children ages 3 to 12.
The company spent thousands on improvements, including building renovations and making the bathrooms handicap accessible.
But the renovated railroad never caught on. Both of Delli Priscoli's partners in Cranrail Corp., Douglas Beaton and John Flagg Jr., pulled out in November 2002.
Beaton said he wasn't surprised to hear the railroad was bankrupt.
"Jon told me he was having a very hard time," said Beaton, a cranberry farmer who still works a bog on the property. "He did what he had to do. ... Hopefully he'll come out of this all right."
A number for Delli Priscoli could not be located Saturday and he could not be reached for comment.
Edaville Railroad was founded by cranberry farmer Ellis Atwood, who built the track around his plantation and began giving train rides to his friends in 1946. The rides grew in popularity and Atwood added a museum, a depot and a restaurant. The attraction first closed in 1991.
The site includes 5 miles of railroad lines, 210 acres of working cranberry bogs, a 300-acre Atwood reservoir and a variety of wildlife.
NEW ENGLAND DISPATCH MAILED
The February 2004 issue (Vol. 6, Issue 1) of the New England Dispatch was mailed yesterday and should be in your hands anytime now. It's one of our biggest mailings ever, with an eight-page newsletter plus the flyer for our Nor'Easter event coming up on March 13. If you haven't received your copy by February 25, contact me at noreasterrsvp@yahoo.com and I'll look into it.
MESSAGE FROM RAY UEBERROTH ABOUT EASTCOASTER
TO ACEers attending Eastcoaster:
You are invited to a special open house at the new ACE Archives on Sunday, February 8. The new archive facility is a major step forward toward ACE's goal of supporting a national roller coaster museum and archives.
The ACE Archives Office and Warehouse is next to the Lehigh Valley Int'l Airport and is convenient to the Northampton Community Center, which is the location of this year's Eastcoaster.
Some artifacts from both the ACE Archives and the NRCMA Archives will be on display. We will be soliciting volunteers to assist with the work being done in the archives!
Please join us:
Sunday, February 8, 2004
10 a.m. - 12 Noon
Details and driving directions will be given during Eastcoaster next Saturday.
Ray Ueberroth
ACE Archivist
ACEArchives@AOL.com
