Les,
I am simply fascinated by the Atwater street monster. I just can't picture this huge bus going up and down the Atwater hill specially in the winter on a icy street. I would like to get as much information as possible including where it was built and did it ever go to Verdun. Also,I am wondering if the bus terminal on the picture might be the Glen garage as I am familiar with the area having worked on Richelieu st in St Henri and used to take the bus at the corner of Glen road and St Antoine street in the late 50s and the bus terminal was right at that corner. The autoroute Ville Marie is now situated at the top of the hill and Atwater is situated nearbuy, This will be excellant information for our historical society and I hope you can come up with plenty of information.
Guy
15 comments:
I will try & find more information Guy,...I thought it was unique in the way that it was using a diesel electric motor being 1927 that was ahead of it's time for a street vehicle, I also thought it must have been weird to see this beast be unceremoniously dumped from service ,due to breaking in half................Yikes The name of the company that built her is in one of the posts ,along with minimum information about this odd looking bus,.....it is from the STCUM site . HF&RV
Seems your eye for detail Guy , is pretty good , as I just came across this website photo of the same Bus with StHenri being noted as the spot where the bus photo was taken.... Autobus de Montr챕al au garage Saint-Henri.
1929 #23-ph-8
짤Soci챕t챕 historique de Saint-Henri the actual photo cannot be shown, but here is the link to the web page, I'll post more as I find it. hf&rv http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/sthenri/186.htm
Also inpost #2 of this thread i mistakenly mentioned the Atwater Monster as being a 'Diesel Electric' when in fact it was a 'Gas Electric' making it in effect a 'Hybrid' .....well they say there's nothing new under the sun..... hf&rv Sure doesn't look like a Prius...............hahahaha
More info on the company that built the Atwater Monster 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 diesel 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 The above information was found at Wikpedia & it's been my experience that there informationis often wrong or misleading , as I don't believe they check all there refereances...........but it's a start for anyone who wants to try & find more information........Seems they were a very experimental copmany , very forward thinking considering the era...............................................................hf&rv.
Guy here's a little more information re: the Versare Corp. that built the Atwater Monster,..........hope it helps Versare Corp. - 1925-1928 - Watervliet, New York - Cincinnati Car Co. 1928-1931 - Cincinnati, Ohio The first type of Versare bus, introduced with great fanfare in 1925, was built on the principle of a doubleｭ-truck streetcar and represented an attempt to produce an extremely large bus capable of doing streetcar duty. There were two bogies, each driven by an electric motor, with the current supplied by a generator driven by a Buda gasoline engine located under a conventional front hood. The power plant was said to be readily removable for repairs, as were the bogies. Body construction was also unique for the period, consisting of fabricated aluminum alloy framing built up in sections, welded together, and covered with an aluminum alloy skin. Four buses and a prototype truck are known to have been built; there could have been more. In 1927 Versare announced a second type of gas-electric bus with its engine inside the body at the rear, the earliest U.S. example of so-called "streetcar-type" bus construction with the front entrance door ahead of the front axle. There were again two electric motors and two driving axles. This concept proved somewhat more palatable to potential customers, and with interest being shown in the design, the Cincinnati Car Co., an old established streetcar builder, acquired Versare in 1928. A trolley-coach version was marketed as well, initially having the same three-axle layout as the motor bus, but later revised with a single rear axle, and after sale of the company the trolley-coaches were sold under the Cincinnati name. The buses continued to use the name Versare and may have still been built at the original plant in Watervliet, N.Y., near Albany. Approximately 100 buses and 40 trolley-coaches were produced, and buyers included transit companies in New York, Albany, Montreal, Cleveland, Boston and Salt Lake City. Now this information came from a site called CoacBuilt,.and this may be of Interest to others like Fresco, maybe Sandy (onesmac too) ,.or JMH, & of course Guy... not sure how many others find any of this interesting ,but here's the link: http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/v/versare/versare.htm ..........................................................................HF&RV
Guy, I'm pretty certain from the hill that this is the St Henri Car Barn. If Jean-Marie Hachey agrees with me then I'm 100% positive of the location. My mother worked for the Westmount Power Plant which was on the Glenn just up from the St Henri Car Barn. On top of that hill are the CPR tracks to Windsor Station. Our cat passed away at age 18. I had left home by then. My mother was really down about this and about what to do. One of the Powerline Guys said bring in the cat. She put the cat in a shoebox and brought it to the power plant. The Powerline Guys buried the cat on the hill you see in the picture. As for the Atwater Monster. I have read that Atwater was one of the few routes it could travel on as it was too long to turn on most corners. One day the Atwater Monster split in two on Atwater. This mishap probably slowed down Montreal's switch from streetcars to busses-Walter (Fresco).
Yes according to the StHenri site , this is the same garage / barn you (Fresco & Guy ) recognise..... Reply
Recommend Delete Message 3 of 7 in Discussion From: Les__F in response to Message 2 Sent: 10/13/2008 4:33 PM Seems your eye for detail Guy , is pretty good , as I just came across this website photo of the same Bus with StHenri being noted as the spot where the bus photo was taken.... Autobus de Montr챕al au garage Saint-Henri.
1929 #23-ph-8
짤Soci챕t챕 historique de Saint-Henri the actual photo cannot be shown, but here is the link to the web page, I'll post more as I find it. hf&rv http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/sthenri/186.htm ......If you click that link it will bring you to the StHenri site HF&RV
Les, Thanks for that historical information on the Atwater monster wich will add to our archives. I am interested in getting information on its use on the Atwater line such as: When was it purchased by the Montreal Tramway Co. and gone into service. How much did it cost. What was its route and did it go to Verdun. Did it have power steering. I can't see it not having it, Was it invented then. What are the technical information such as size, weight, hp etc. We already have the date of the photos (1927 & 1929), the date when it went out of service after breaking in 2 on Atwater (1934). I must search in the local newspapers of that period where there is sure to be some articles on the subject. Thanks Walter for your feeddback as these anecdotes put personal experiences into facts and figures. Guy
http://www.stm.info/English/en-bref/a-autobus.htm Steve
Hi One of the CCars was number 4393..anyone know where we could find some pictures from this era..going to say early 60's.real early... Thanks Lad
http://www.stm.info/English/en-bref/a-autobus.htm The last series of Canadian-Car/Brill buses
bought by the Commission in 1960 had a modern look. The 1956 Mack Bus. Steve
If the Atwater Street Monster was put out of service in 1934 after breaking in two on Atwater street and was in service for 7 years, then it was purchased in 1927, the date of the 1927 photo without the driver in front. The bus with the driver in front is dated 1929, 2 years after entering service and wich is in front of the St Henri MTC garage What is a compound Gas-Electric Engine. My guess is that its a gas driven engine like our own car powering a generator that supplies electricity to electric motors that powered the 8 wheels. The steering was possibly electric power driven as it would be impossible for a driver to turn those 4 front wheels without power assistance. I suspect that these technologies where in use in that period. I believe those gigantic trucks that operate in the oil-sands in Alberta operate on the same principle. I may be all wet on this so perhaps one of our learned members has more knowledge than me to describe the functioning of this beast. Lets keep this subject going until we have solved these mysteries. Guy
Here is an interesting little clip from the 1996 NFB film about David Fennario.
http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/vPlayer.php?id=33082
BrownBlvd
Hi Walter ! re: http://groups.msn.com/VerdunConnections/vhsreunionpoll.msnw?action=get_message&mview=1&ID_Message=55594&all_topics=1 Thanks for your description and anecdote about the old St.Henri Car Barn Can you confirm that the hill behind the St.Henri garage for streetcars is a part of Falaise St-Jacques (St. James Cliff) Have a nice day ! JM
Hi Jean-Marie, I'm pretty sure it is. My mother's cat was buried there. My mother worked for the Westmount Power Plant which was next to the St Henri Car Barn on the Glenn. My mother freaked when her cat of many years passed away. She lived on Bannantyne at the time. She didn't know what to do. One of the Linesman from the Power plant came over, took the cat in a shoe box and the cat was buried on that hill above the power plant-Walter
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