R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-6-25
The purchaser of any railroad or street railway and of the property, rights, privileges, and franchises therewith connected, at a sale under a valid foreclosure of a legal mortgage thereof, or at a valid sale under the power of sale of the mortgage, or at a valid sale under the orders and directions of any court of competent jurisdiction, and the grantee and successors in title of any purchaser, shall be subject to all and the same duties, liabilities, restrictions, and other provisions respecting the railroad or street railway, or arising from the construction, maintenance, and operation thereof, and shall have all and the same powers and rights relating to the railroad or street railway, and the construction, maintenance, and operation thereof, which the corporation by which the mortgage was made, or which was the owner of the railroad or street railway at the time of the sale, was subject to and had at the time of the sale.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-6-25