 Scheduled passenger service between Fall River, Massachusetts and Newport, Rhode Island on the Newport Secondary ended in 1938, and the New Haven Railroad and its successors never made large profits from freight service on the line.Penn Central attempted to abandon the line in 1973; three years later, Conrail took over the line and sold the southern section to the state.The state in turned leased its section to the nonprofit, volunteer-run Old Colony and Newport Scenic Railway.