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I think that I may have posted these West India Fruit and Steam Ship (W.I.F. SS) boxcars before; but I came across them recently and thought that they deserved a more in depth look.

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I wanted to get information on the prototype. When searching the web I came across this article. I checked with Alan and he said that I could share it as kind as there weren’t any pictures in my post.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...nd_Steamship_Company

I read some more and found that W.I.F. SS wasn’t the first company to provide ferry service between Havana and Florida.

The Florida East Coast Car Ferry Company, Henry Flagler operated a service from Key West, Florida to Havana: starting in 1915. The FEC KEY WEST extension was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935. Service continued from Port Everglades until WW II when the ferries were requisitioned by the US NAVY. FEC didn’t resume service after the war. WIF SS started operations after the war. The two FEC ferries that survived the war were acquired by the WIF&SS Co. and restored their original names. WIF&SS had a fleet of boxcars and refrigerator cars that were moved around the US. I have searched for models of the refrigerator cars; but only came up with an HO car. W.I.F. SS  ceased operations in the 60s due to tensions from the Cold War.

Two pieces of information that I can’t find are; it doesn’t appear that WIF SS or FEC had motive power to move the boxcars.  At one point I read that a B&O engine was in use; but I couldn’t get back to it.
When I searched for FEC boxcars I got a passenger car.


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Here's another Lionel boxcar with an integrated diecast frame and floor and, this time, it's an 027 plug door from 2000 in PRR shadow keystone "No Damage" livery:

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As with the B&M "Standard O" car I posted about the week before last, I've never seen an 027 car from Lionel with this feature before. Like the B&M car, I got this one from Forum sponsor Trainz on clearance and was happy to get such a nice car essentially NIB for a great price. The frame and floor are powder-coated in matte black just like the trucks. In fact, I had to scrape off the powder coating from around the truck pivot wells to get the trucks to rotate freely for smooth traversal of curves. The total weight of the car is a hefty 20 oz., which is over the 15 oz. weight recommended by the NMRA for a car of this length.

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Bob, Evidently West India Fruit & Steamship Company ran on a few roads as seen here. When train watching with my uncle, he would always mention different smaller railroads that had cars going through our hometown of Meriden, Connecticut, such as the New Hope and Ivy land and of course the WIF&SS Company. It was always a goal to see how many odd roads we could spot. Looking at your cars this morning, I noted your three had different cat numbers. Cool they are all different from mine This car was a kit car most likely by All Nation  or Reynolds.



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@Bill Park posted:

Bob, Evidently West India Fruit & Steamship Company ran on a few roads as seen here. When train watching with my uncle, he would always mention different smaller railroads that had cars going through our hometown of Meriden, Connecticut, such as the New Hope and Ivy land and of course the WIF&SS Company. It was always a goal to see how many odd roads we could spot. Looking at your cars this morning, I noted your three had different cat numbers. Cool they are all different from mine This car was a kit car most likely by All Nation  or Reynolds.



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Bill, was there another part to your post?

“Bob, Evidently West India Fruit & Steamship Company ran on a few roads as seen here.”

I went to the link that @Mark V. Spadaro posted a couple of weeks ago that itemized Lionel boxcars with die cast frames. I saw a PRR reefer, Lionel 17317, that would be a bit different than my numerous PRR boxcars.  I searched eBay, and there was a NIB one that was on auction with no bids. I bid the starting price of $14.99 and got it!  I still got grief from the boss though. I’ve ordered some fruit crates to put in it, but it’ll be a week before I get them.

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Last edited by texgeekboy
@Bill Swatos posted:

Here's another Lionel boxcar with an integrated diecast frame and floor and, this time, it's an 027 plug door from 2000 in PRR shadow keystone "No Damage" livery:

20240707_035145

As with the B&M "Standard O" car I posted about the week before last, I've never seen an 027 car from Lionel with this feature before. Like the B&M car, I got this one from Forum sponsor Trainz on clearance and was happy to get such a nice car essentially NIB for a great price. The frame and floor are powder-coated in matte black just like the trucks. In fact, I had to scrape off the powder coating from around the truck pivot wells to get the trucks to rotate freely for smooth traversal of curves. The total weight of the car is a hefty 20 oz., which is over the 15 oz. weight recommended by the NMRA for a car of this length.

Bill - Lionel made a run of 6464 size boxcars, with die cast frames, early 2000s, under the 6565 series designator. They are rife on eBay, if you’re into collecting them. One caveat, the total weight adds up, and on start up, curves, and inclines, it will, at some point, given a long enough train of 6565 cars, be noticed.  Once moving on straight and level track, it’s usually not an issue.

Last edited by Mark V. Spadaro
@pennsyfan posted:

Thanks for the follow up Mark; I just grabbed a new one for $16 buy it now.

Thanks for the thanks, Bob. It’s appreciated!

Here’s my boxcars for this sunny boxcar Sunday; Grandpa Lines; a local line serving passengers and businesses in the vicinity of Queens

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Last edited by Mark V. Spadaro

Bill - Lionel made a run of 6464 size boxcars, with die cast frames, early 2000s, under the 6565 series designator. They are rife on eBay, if you’re into collecting them. One caveat, the total weight adds up, and on start up, curves, and inclines, it will, at some point, given a long enough train of 6565 cars, be noticed.  Once moving on straight and level track, it’s usually not an issue.

Thanks, Mark! When I ordered it from Trainz I just thought it was a standard 027 car. You wouldn't happen to have a list of these like you posted for the diecast "Standard O" cars, would you? While I might not try to get all of them, there may be some interesting roadnames and liveries thereof that I'd like to have.

Regarding the weight, I've experienced it with MTH RK Diecast cars. The primary reason I reworked the truck pivots was because just this one car in a consist of standard ones caused dramatic slowing in curves due to stiff truck pivot action caused by the car's weight and high CoF of the powder-coated sliding surfaces between the trucks and floor.

@Steam Crazy posted:

Capetrainman, I remember Narragansett sponsoring the Red Sox.  The Sox broadcaster, Curt Gowdy, used to say “ Hi neighbor, have a Gansett”.  I also recall sampling a few Gansetts when I was a college student in Providence.

Here’s a video of my Gansett beer train I posted earlier on another thread.  Note the unusual tank cars.

John

You should set up delivery service for friends during operating sessions, John! You might not operate any other trains, though

@Bill Swatos posted:

Thanks, Mark! When I ordered it from Trainz I just thought it was a standard 027 car. You wouldn't happen to have a list of these like you posted for the diecast "Standard O" cars, would you? While I might not try to get all of them, there may be some interesting roadnames and liveries thereof that I'd like to have.

Regarding the weight, I've experienced it with MTH RK Diecast cars. The primary reason I reworked the truck pivots was because just this one car in a consist of standard ones caused dramatic slowing in curves due to stiff truck pivot action caused by the car's weight and high CoF of the powder-coated sliding surfaces between the trucks and floor.

No list available, Bill, but put Lionel 6565 boxcar in eBay search bar, and you’ll see a representative sample. GRJ mentioned, in the post you refer to, that he had a sealed 4 pak in B&M roadname, he was willing to part with. Perhaps that still holds true.

Well sort of following Dave Ripp and Krieglok that there is "Never too much Rock! " here are two Lionel 027 Rock Island boxcars.  The # 7903 blue RI from 1983 and the #16200 red RI from 1987 - 1988

Lionel RI [blue) Boxcar

Best wishes , hope your upcoming week goes well

Don

I just got a "copy" of this boxcar from Trainz for my "starter set" consist. Thanks for the inspiration, Don!

@Bill Swatos- Go man!  Glad you were able to find it.  Those guys are like nearly 40 years old so they can't be all that common anymore.  OBTW  Welcome to the 0-27 boxcar club, I know that pennsyfan also collects these little guys and its likely that others do as well.  Its fun and relatively inexpensive compared with other boxcar variants (like the 6464 series).  We have our rarities as well as Lionel put special runs of these boxcars into many promotional sets for particular clients or starter sets that did not have a large production base.  

Anyway...Good Find Bill

Don

What year was this car put out? Would be nice to find one for sale.



Thanks.

Jeff;

The car is from early 2023 according to Berwyn’s website… here is a link to the web page. You may want to contact them since the page suggests they are doing another run. Good luck with the hunt!!!

https://berwynstoytrains.com/p...heathed-box-car-rca/

@Bill Swatos- Go man!  Glad you were able to find it.  Those guys are like nearly 40 years old so they can't be all that common anymore.  OBTW  Welcome to the 0-27 boxcar club, I know that pennsyfan also collects these little guys and its likely that others do as well.  Its fun and relatively inexpensive compared with other boxcar variants (like the 6464 series).  We have our rarities as well as Lionel put special runs of these boxcars into many promotional sets for particular clients or starter sets that did not have a large production base.  

Anyway...Good Find Bill

Don

Indeed! You and @pennsyfan got me started with the Town House TV & Appliances set! In addition to the 9040 boxcars, I love that little 9802 2-4-0 reissue of the original 1001 2-4-2 that came in these starter sets. So, thanks to you both!

Central Railroad of New Jersey #22485 and Pennsylvania #24270 boxcars by Weaver and K-Line were pulled by Norfolk & Western 0-8-0 #244 on my 10’-by-5’ layout.

N&W #244, built in 1953, was the last reciprocating steam locomotive built in the United States for an American Class 1 railroad and also the last steamer built by the N&W at its shops in Roanoke, Virginia.

MELGAR

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