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Private company

West India Fruit and Steamship Company

Transport company based in Roanoke1

The West India Fruit and Steamship Company operated a railcar ferry service between the Port of Palm Beach, Florida, and Havana, Cuba, from shortly after World War II until deteriorating relations between the United States and Cuba culminated in the United States embargo against Cuba. The company offered six of its ferries for sale in June 1961, citing the fact that "trade had dwindled to the vanishing point" and service ceased in August 1961. WIF&SS Co., in its role as a car ferry operator, acted as both a railroad and a steamship line.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

  • HeadquartersRoanoke1

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The West India Fruit and Steamship Company operated a railcar ferry service between the Port of Palm Beach, Florida, and Havana, Cuba, from shortly after World War II until deteriorating relations between the United States and Cuba culminated in the United States embargo against Cuba. The company offered six of its ferries for sale in June 1961, citing the fact that "trade had dwindled to the vanishing point" and service ceased in August 1961.2

Products and brands

No transfer of commodities was necessary upon arrival or railcars in Havana; Cuban railways handled the railcars directly to consignees. North American owned railcars operated routinely throughout Cuba, but evidence suggests that cars of the Cuban railways rarely, if ever, operated on North American roads.

The WIF&SS Co. maintained a fleet of refrigerator cars and boxcars with WIF reporting marks. WIF boxcars did regularly operate throughout the United States.

Cargo carried northward included tobacco, refined sugar, pineapples, rum, tomatoes, slaughterhouse byproducts, and scrap metal. Cuban bound freight included less-than-carload merchandise, manufactured goods, chemicals, lard, railway equipment, temperate zone fruit such as apples, pears, and grapes, meat, dairy, steel products, and machinery, including oversized loads.

From Wikipedia’s article on West India Fruit and Steamship Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Sources

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