Versare Company

Versare Car Company was a bus and trolley bus maker founded in 1925 and originally based in Watervliet, New York. Among their early work were experimental buses that utilized gasoline (Buda or Waukesha) and electric engines that could be run alone or together, a technique that could be seen as a very early ancestor to dual-mode vehicles of the modern day.

In 1928, the assets of the company were purchased by the Cincinnati Car Company and the company's base was moved from Watervliet to Cincinnati, Ohio. The Versare nameplate returned in 1931 and remained until its demise in 1938.

Products

Montreal Tramways Company bus #800, the "Atwater Street Monster".^[1]^[2] This Versare gas-electric bus was used in the 1920s and 1930s on the Atwater Avenue bus route.^[1]^[2]

"Atwater Street Monster", an 8-wheeled bus used in Montreal^[1]^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "History of the Bus in Montreal", The STM in Brief, Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on August 18, 2002, retrieved July 8, 2013, The new vehicles trials did not always have happy endings like, for instance, the bad experience of the "Atwater Street Monster". Bus number 800 made by the Versare Company was a huge machine powered by a compound gas-electric motor.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The "Atwater Street Monster" and its driver in front of the St. Henry garage (1927)", Expo: Tribute to Workers from Past to Present, Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on 2002-08-18, retrieved July 8, 2013, In the years following the appearance of buses on Montreal's streets, the company tested a number of bus models, including a gas-electric hybrid model made by the Versare Company. Because the excessive distance between the axles prevented the driver from turning corners easily on the narrow streets of the time, this bus could be used only on the Atwater Avenue route. Seven years later, the aptly nicknamed "Atwater Street Monster" literally broke in two in the middle of the street.

External links

Cincinnati Car Company at Builders of Wooden Railway Cars (archived)
Versare Car Corp at Builders of Wooden Railway Cars (archived)
Versare Corporation at Coachbuilt.com

[STM1-1] "History of the Bus in Montreal", The STM in Brief, Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on August 18, 2002, retrieved July 8, 2013, The new vehicles trials did not always have happy endings like, for instance, the bad experience of the "Atwater Street Monster". Bus number 800 made by the Versare Company was a huge machine powered by a compound gas-electric motor.

[STM2-2] "The "Atwater Street Monster" and its driver in front of the St. Henry garage (1927)", Expo: Tribute to Workers from Past to Present, Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on 2002-08-18, retrieved July 8, 2013, In the years following the appearance of buses on Montreal's streets, the company tested a number of bus models, including a gas-electric hybrid model made by the Versare Company. Because the excessive distance between the axles prevented the driver from turning corners easily on the narrow streets of the time, this bus could be used only on the Atwater Avenue route. Seven years later, the aptly nicknamed "Atwater Street Monster" literally broke in two in the middle of the street.

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