By: Rénald Fortier
Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation
Several thousand words on Versare Corporation of Albany, New York, and the monster of Atwater Street / Montréal’s beast, the ginormous 8-wheel gasoline-electric bus operated by Montreal Tramways Company, part 1
The ginormous Versare bus operated by Montreal Tramways Company of… Montréal, Québec, Spring 1927. Anon., “Avtodorozhny ekran – Amerikanskiye chetyrekhosnyye avtobusy.” Za Rulem, 1st issue of December 1929, 29.
Greetings, my reading friend, and a happy New Year! May yours truly welcome you to the first 2025 issue of our astonishing blog / bulletin / thingee?
Given the time of year, I decided to break away from our anniversarial tradition for the 4th time in a row, and this in order to bring you a topic which fell by the wayside when I miscalculated the length of a December 2024 article (2 parts instead of 1). Oops.
Yours truly shall endeavour to be more careful in the future, so that we will not be forced to break away from our sacrosanct anniversarial tradition.
Still, I wanted to pontificate about public transit, a form of transportation I very much favour, even when handsomely paid individuals of the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission decided, around mid-November 2024, to increase the cost of a senior monthly pass from $49 to $108, and this without so much as a hint of consultation.
Incidentally, slightly before mid-December, sensing the wrath of a great many of their senior constituents, yours truly among them, the members of the Ottawa City Council unanimously voted to increase the cost of a senior monthly pass from $49 to… $58.25, but back to our story.
You will of course have noticed the non intelligibility of the title of the magazine article at the core of the present article. Incidentally, again, roughly translated from its original Russian, said title reads Road screen – American four-axle buses, the word screen being used here as it would be in the expression cinema screen.
And yes, a photograph of a ginormous bus operated between May 1927 and May 1934, I think, by Montreal Tramways Company of… Montréal, Québec, found its way to the hell hole of the proletariat known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and…
You have a question, do you not, my reading friend who refuses to be bamboozled by fake information? Good for you. How can yours truly be sure that the ginormous vehicle in the photograph in question was the Versare 8-wheel gasoline-electric bus operated by Montreal Tramways? A good question.
Now, go back to the photograph and look at the door near the front of the bus. Do you see a number? 800? Wunderbar. That, my reading friend, was the fleet number of the Versare 8-wheel gasoline-electric bus operated by Montreal Tramways.
Incidentally, Za Rulem was the first automobile magazine published in the USSR. Indeed, until 1989, it was apparently the only automobile magazine published in the USSR.
The first issue of Za Rulem came out in April 1928. In 1929, that monthly publication became a bimonthly magazine. It vanished from newsstands in 1941 following the invasion of the USSR by National Socialist Germany and returned to its readers only in 1956, as a monthly magazine. Za Rulem became a privately owned publication as a result of the disappearance of the USSR, in December 1991. That magazine was still published when 2024 came to an end.
The beginning of a story being a reasonably good place to begin a pontification, let us go back in time, to November 1886 and the birth, in Davenport, Iowa, of Oliver F. Warhus.
A machinist by trade, Warhus nonetheless agreed, in 1907, to join one of his brothers, Robert M. Warhus, also a machinist, in a somewhat different line of work, Warhus Brothers Undertakers of Alleghany City, Pennsylvania.
For some reason or other, Warhus gave up that job of undertaker and returned to his previous occupation in 1910, when he moved to Jackson, Michigan, where he took up the position as general superintendent at Fox Machine Company, a firm which produced milling machines and drill presses for the burgeoning automobile industry of the United States.
At some later point, Warhus joined the staff of American Cement Machine Company of Keokuk, Iowa.
By 1921, he was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, working for a firm that yours truly has yet to identify.
By 1924, however, Warhus was in Albany, New York, where he might, I repeat might, have worked for Consolidated Car Heating Company, a firm involved in, among other things, the production of railcar heating, lighting and ventilating equipment.
It was during that year that Warhus began to work on an idea. An Albany banker and Consolidated Car Heating executive named liked what he saw. Indeed, Frederick S. Pruyn decided to invest in Warhus’ idea, a trolleybus whose 8 wheels were mounted in 2 groups of 4 wheels, or trucks.
Incidentally, a trolleybus / trolley bus / trolley / trackless trolley / trackless tram was / is an electric bus which drew power from a pair of overhead wires.
Versare Corporation of Albany was incorporated in the July 1925. Warhus was apparently the firm’s vice president and chief engineer.
A brief digression if I may. What do you think the word versare means, my polyglot reading friend? In Latin, that word means to turn or twist, you state? Very good, but back to our story.
Warhus, Pruyn and their associates hoped that their new design would fulfill the needs of the bus or trolleybus operating subsidiary of a streetcar operating firm based in Albany, United Traction Company. Sadly enough, Capital District Transportation Company of Albany chose to acquire an existing model of trolleybus produced by another firm.
By the middle of 1925, however, Versare wanted to produce buses, but not just any kind of bus. Nay. It wanted to produce ginormous 8-wheel gasoline-electric buses capable of accommodating up to 44 sitting passengers with standing room for 52 more.
The 8 wheels of those innovative, if not downright revolutionary behemoths were to be mounted in two 4-wheel trucks. And yes, both of those trucks were to be used to steer the new buses. You see, they could rotate to the right or left. Better yet, the front wheels of each truck could also rotate right or left. That configuration would allow Warhus’ buses to make surprisingly tight turns and, therefore, negotiate corners and traffic obstructions which would have left high and dry ordinary buses of the time.
Although understandably heavy, the new bus would not exceed the maximum road loading regulations, and this thanks to its high number of wheels.
And yes, my observant reading friend, the new buses would look a lot like standard streetcars / trolley cars or railroad passenger carriages. Indeed, those vehicles had been Warhus’ inspiration in his endeavour.
Versare could count on a powerful partner in its endeavour. That partner was in fact an American industrial giant, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mentioned in several issues of our electrifying blog / bulletin / thingee, and this since July 2018.
Versare’s personnel completed a proof of concept prototype of its giant vehicle no later than April 1925.
By July, it was working on the prototype of an 8-wheel truck capable of carrying a paying load of 13 600 or so kilogrammes (30 000 or so pounds). Two examples of that behemoth were seemingly completed.
One of them might, I repeat might, have ended up with the public works department of Bloomington, Illinois. You see, a vehicle described as its “big 10-ton Versare truck” was used to transport 8 boats to Vienna, Illinois, in late January 1937. Those boats were immediately used for flood rescue work during the Great Flood of 1937. In early February, that same vehicle carried many tonnes (tons) of clothing to the devastated area.
By the looks of it, Bloomington’s truck was requisitioned by the federal authorities in late January. It presumably returned to Bloomington at some point in February or March 1937.
Centered upon the Ohio River, the Great Flood of 1937 killed 350 or so people in January and February 1937, and left a million or so people homeless, and this in half a dozen states.
Before I forget, Versare approached the United States Army no later than 1927 to see if it might be interested in an 8-wheeled truck.
A vehicle of that type was displayed and demonstrated at the annual meeting and demonstration of the Army Ordnance Association, held at the United States Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground, near Aberdeen, Maryland, in October 1927. Another truck, the same vehicle perhaps, was displayed and demonstrated in June 1929, at the Military Transportation Pageant and Exposition held at the Holabird Quartermaster Depot, in Fort Holabird, a United States Army base located near Baltimore, Maryland.
By the looks of it, the American military’s answer was a polite no.
The first Versare 8-wheel bus. Anon., “Les autobus pétroléo-électriques, à 8 roues, d’Albany (E.-U.).” Le Génie civil, 22 August 1925, 176.
In any event, the tests conducted with the proof of concept prototype of the aforementioned bus were so satisfactory that the firm set out to make an actual bus. The mayor of New York City, New York, the America attorney John Francis Hylan, as well as a number of city officials and businessmen, saw that vehicle in September 1925. They were suitably impressed.
That vehicle was seemingly on display at the American Electric Railway Association convention and exhibition held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in early October 1925. The people who saw it were presumably impressed as well.
Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing supplied the two electric motors, one per truck, which transmitted their power to the wheels of the new bus. Said power came from an electric generator, also supplied by Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing, which was activated by a gasoline engine.
The generator and gasoline engine of the vehicle formed an easily removable unit, at the front. Said unit could be removed and replaced in 60 or so minutes, if not less.
Versare’s giant might, I repeat might, have been a gas guzzler extraordinaire. Would you believe that a source suggested that its fuel consumption was 118 or so litres per 100 kilometres (2.4 or so miles per imperial gallon / 2 or so miles per American gallon)? Wah!
The very structure of the passenger section of the new bus was as innovative as its power system. You see, the vehicle did not really have a chassis. Its main structure was a very strong bridge-like truss. Said truss consisted of a series of interchangeable monocoque aluminium alloy boxes, also covered in aluminium alloy, which were welded together. The number of boxes could be reduced or increased in accordance with the requirements of an operator. Pretty clever, eh?
That truss was attached to the floor of the bus, which consisted of steel truss plates.
The two trucks and their 8 wheels, as well as the engine compartment and driver and front door compartment, were attached to the main structure of the bus.
By the way, each bus could carry up to 99 passengers, of which 39 were seated in standard cross seats and a rotunda seat extending along the sides and rear of the cabin. Each bus also carried a driver and a conductor / fare collector.
As innovative as the Versare behemoth undoubtedly was, one could have argued that it was more complex and expensive than a more conventional vehicle. It was also very large. This being said (typed?), the elimination of the gearbox and clutch would hopefully decrease the vehicle’s maintenance and repair costs. In addition, that vehicle was quieter and smoother than a gasoline bus of a similar size, had such a vehicle existed – and none did back then.
In any event, and as was to be expected, the huge size, innovative drivetrain and unusual silhouette of Versare’s 8-wheeled vehicle did not go unnoticed.
Indeed, it received a good deal of detailed press coverage in trade publications, and this both in the United States and abroad. One only needed to mention articles published in 1925 in Automotive Industries, Bus Transportation, Electric Railway Journal, Electric Traction, Railway Age and The Commercial Motor, a British publication.
Firms which produced elements of the new vehicle published advertisements in various American magazines.
Would you believe that Aluminum Company of America of Pittsburgh published a brochure entitled A Revolution in Transportation in June 1926 in order to highlight its contribution to the development of Versare’s giant?
Versare’s management indicated that it was not planning to sell its giants to firms which competed with railroads. Nay. Its customers would be those very railroads, or their bus / coach operating subsidiaries. Mind you, that management also hoped to sell some vehicles to public transit firms.
Agile, comfortable, easy to board and capable of maintaining speeds of almost 50, if not 55 or so kph (30, if not 35 or so mph), Versare’s giant had much to offer.
Over an expected life expectancy of 10 years, it was expected to cover 675 000 or so kilometres (420 000 or so miles) in urban areas or 965 000 or so kilometres (600 000 or so miles) in interurban areas.
By the way, the average distance between the Earth and Moon is 385 000 or so kilometres (240 000 or so miles).
Eager to sell its products, Versare sent one of its 8-wheeled giants, its first bus of that type actually, to the American Electric Railway Association convention and exhibition held in Cleveland, Ohio, in October 1926.
One of the two Versare 8-wheeled coaches delivered to Alton Transportation Company of Alton, Illinois, as seen in an advertisement issued by Waukesha Motor Company of Waukesha, Wisconsin. Anon., “Waukesha Motor Company.” Electric Railway Journal, 25 September 1926, 129.
One of the two Versare 8-wheeled coaches delivered to Alton Transportation Company of Alton, Illinois. Anon., “Bus Operation by Steam Railroads.” Bus Transportation, July 1926, 401.
Two Versare coaches delivered in May 1926 to Alton Transportation Company of… Alton, Illinois, a subsidiary of Chicago & Alton Railroad Company of… Chicago, Illinois, entered service in October of that year.
Incidentally, those vehicles travelled from Albany to Alton by road, and this with 4 stops in up to 5 states along the way. You see, Versare very much wanted to demonstrate its new behemoths to various railroad and public transit firms.
Once in service, those vehicles, in all likelihood the first gasoline-electric coaches operated, albeit indirectly, by a railroad on planet Earth, picked up and dropped off passengers in train stations as well as large hotels and business centres located between St. Louis, Missouri, and Jacksonville, Illinois. The distance travelled one way was 150 or so kilometres (95 or so miles). Alton Transportation offered two departures each day, Sunday included or not, I cannot say.
Alton Transportation ordered two additional vehicles in January 1927. They were delivered during the year, a claim seemingly backed by that firm’s Vice-President / General Manager. Better yet, Versare also claimed to have delivered a vehicle to Cleveland Railway Company of… Cleveland, the city’s public transit firm, which could mean that Versare built up to 6 of its 8-wheeled juggernauts.
And yes, Chicago & Alton Railroad had set up Alton Transportation in February or March 1926 to compete with the coach operators which had recently provided it with a keen competition. That railroad firm was indeed in dire straits. You see, it had been in receivership since August 1922.
As it turned out, Alton Transportation did not do all that well. You see, Jacksonville Bus Line Company of… Jacksonville, Illinois, acquired its operating permit in October or November 1928, a temporary measure according to Chicago & Alton Railroad. As it turned out, again, Jacksonville Bus Line acquired Alton Transportation in May 1930. Chicago & Alton Railroad, on the other hand, was sold at public auction in December 1930.
How about the firm’s Versare giants, you ask, my reading friend? Well, Cleveland Railway acquired at least two of them, in 1928, I think. Quickly deemed too unwieldy, they were scrapped.
Incidentally, the prototype of the Versare giant was acquired at some point by Capital District Transportation. It too was scrapped, at an undetermined date, and…
Do you have a question, my reading friend? How about the monster of Atwater Street and Montréal beast mentioned in the title of this article, you ask? As usual, a good question.
Yours truly will answer it in a few days. In the meantime, carpe diem, my impatient reading friend. Patientia semper est summa virtus Homo sapiens.
Rénald Fortier
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