The Wayne Corporation was an American manufacturer of buses and other vehicles under the "Wayne" marque. The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, in Wayne County, Indiana. During the mid‐20th century, Wayne served as a leading producer of school buses in North America.
Among innovations introduced by the company were the first application of cutaway van chassis for a school bus and an improvement in structural integrity in bus body construction, involving the use of continuous longitudinal panels to reduce body joints; the design change happened before federal standards required stronger body structures in school buses.
After 1980, Wayne faced difficulty competing in a market with overcapacity. Declaring bankruptcy, the company discontinued operations in 1992 and its assets were liquidated. Later in 1992, the Wayne brand was reorganized as Wayne Wheeled Vehicles, doing business through 1995.
Overview
Beginning in the 19th century, craftsmen in Richmond, Indiana at Wayne Works and its successors built horse-drawn vehicles, including kid hacks, evolving into automobiles and virtually all types of bus bodies during the 20th century. Wayne products eventually included school buses, transit buses, highway coaches, military and shuttle buses, ambulances and trailer buses.
Wayne pioneered the side-mounted guard rails of modern school buses, inboard wheelchair lifts, and high-headroom doors (a special accommodation for mobility-challenged persons requiring head and neck support from above). The company was the first with a school bus based upon a cutaway van chassis, the Wayne Busette, a body design that would set a precedent for small school bus design, more than 40 years after its introduction.
Wayne was known for the "Wayne Lifeguard" structural body design introduced in 1973, which featured continuous interior and exterior longitudinal panels. The body design helped pave the way for U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for school buses, most of which became applicable on April 1, 1977.
Through nearly 160 years of existence, Wayne went through several ownership and name changes. From 1955 to 1975 alone, the business underwent periods under the ownership of Divco (as "Divco-Wayne"), Boise Cascade, "Indian Head, Inc.", and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Group.
In 1967, Wayne opened the largest school bus manufacturing facility in the United States adjacent to Interstate 70. During the 1980s, the company struggled against an industry downturn fueled by overcapacity and a difficult market cycle. Following millions of dollars of losses, Wayne Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1992.
During the 1990s, Wayne was briefly reorganized as Wayne Wheeled Vehicles, with the Richmond factory utilized by rival manufacturer Carpenter, building school buses from 1996 until its closure in 2000.
Early history (1837–1956)
1837–1900
The beginning of Wayne Corporation traces back to 1837 in Dublin, Indiana, as the Witt family set up a foundry. Alongside the initial manufacturing of stoves, the foundry expanded its manufacturing to farm implements. Through the 1840s and 1850s, the foundry would undergo several changes of ownership. In 1868, the company produced its first vehicle, a horse-drawn utility wagon derived from the then-popular Conestoga wagon.
The 1870s saw two major events that would change the company forever. In 1871, Wayne Agricultural Company was founded out of a reorganization of the foundry ownership (deriving its name from Wayne County, Indiana). In 1875, Wayne Agricultural relocated its operations to Richmond, Indiana. In the late 1880s, Wayne Agricultural fell into receivership and was nearly closed. In 1888, the company was reorganized as Wayne Works.
Kid hacks Following the closure of Wayne Agricultural in 1888, Wayne Works began focusing its product range on horse-drawn vehicles, including wagons and carriages. In 1892, Wayne Works was commissioned by an Ohio school district to build a wagon designed for student transport. Its "School Car" featured perimeter seating with wooden bench seats. Other wagons at the time adapted for transporting students were referred to as "school hacks","school trucks," or "kid hacks."
1900–1930: From wagons to buses
In 1902, Wayne Works was forced to completely rebuild after a fire destroyed the factory. Moving away from farm implements, the company began a transition towards the manufacturing of automobile bodies. In addition, the company began production of complete automobiles, with the Richmond built between 1901 and 1917.
In 1922, Wayne introduced the Touring Home, a recreational vehicle derived from its bus body. By 1927, Wayne introduced the use of steel for its external body panels combined with a wood internal frame.
First buses In the 1910s, Wayne chose to become a body manufacturer for truck chassis (such as the Ford Model T). In 1914, alongside a line of commercial truck bodies, the company introduced its first motorized "School Car", its first school bus mounted on an automotive chassis. In the vehicle bodies for school transportation that the company produced during this era, passengers sat on perimeter seating, facing the sides rather than the front of the bus. In place of wooden benches, the 1914 School Car was fitted with padded seats.
Entry and egress was through a door at the rear, a design first utilized from the days of wagons to avoid startling the horses. This feature was retained, becoming the rear emergency exit seen on the buses of today; the primary mode of ingress/egress is now through a curbside door.
Following World War I, Wayne Works began to produce the School Car in large numbers. Alongside changes in education funding and school modernization, the motorized school bus was a contributing factor in the decline of rural one-room schools in United States. Although fewer children lived within walking distance of school, school systems consisted of fewer but larger multi-room schools.
1930s: Safety innovations In 1930, Wayne Works became the first manufacturer to replace steel-sheathed bodies with full-steel construction, including the internal body frame. Initially offered as an option, the all-steel body became standard in 1933. In 1933, Wayne became the first manufacturer to offer an all-steel body with safety glass windows. In addition, the company began to phase in the heavy-duty reinforced side rails as n added safety feature on school buses, known as "collision rails" or "guard rails".
For 1936, Wayne redesigned its school bus body, making it sectional, allowing a customer to add or remove sections for repair or change capacity. In 1937, the company produced its largest school bus, seating 115 students. In 1938, Wayne Works introduced its first forward-control school bus, offered as a second-party conversion on its conventional-chassis body. In contrast to later front-engine buses, the driver sat on top of the front axle (instead of before the front axle).
1940s: Production transition
World War II production
For World War II, as with other school bus manufacturers, Wayne Works retooled as a military supplier for the Armed Forces. From 1942 to 1945, Wayne would produce 22,857 ambulance bodies for the Dodge WC-54 4x4 chassis. The military also were supplied with other vehicles from the company, including mobile machine shops and buses. Along with conventional-chassis buses, Wayne produced trailer buses pulled by a semi-tractor; the latter buses could transport up to 150 passengers.
To conserve steel for war use, Wayne Works and other manufacturers reverted from all-steel construction to building some bus bodies with wooden components during World War II. The company also did some reconstruction on older buses and trucks to extend their lives during the war years, as did other bus body manufacturers. In 1944, as the end of World War II approached, Wayne returned to building all-steel bodies.
Post-war era Following World War II, Wayne Works began to adapt for new markets for its vehicles. In 1948, Wayne entered a joint venture with Crown Coach to distribute a separate bus; the joint venture resulted in Crown becoming the West Coast distributor for Wayne. The same year, Welles Corporation of Windsor, Ontario became the sole Canadian distributor of Wayne Works school buses. Named for Halsey V. Welles (who founded H. V. Welles Ltd. in 1925), Welles Corporation was first established as Warford Corp. of Canada to distribute Warford transmissions.
1950–1956: End of Wayne Works In late 1950, Wayne Works changed hands, as the Jeffery Ives Corporation acquired Wayne Works from the Clements family, involved with the company ownership since 1897.
For 1952, the company introduced a redesigned bus body, introducing wraparound rear windows and an optional wraparound windshield.
In the mid-1950s, Wayne expanded beyond bus manufacturing, as it acquired two manufacturers of professional cars. In 1954, the company acquired Meteor Motor Car and A.J. Miller Company in 1956, merging them together as Miller-Meteor.
In 1956, Newton Glekel began negotiations with Divco to undergo a merger with Wayne Works. After having inspected the Richmond factory for a potential 1949 sale, the New York-based investor retained interest. At the time in the United States, Wayne controlled a 25% share of school bus manufacturing with Miller-Meteor controlling a 50% share of professional car manufacturing.
Divco-Wayne Corporation (1956–1968) In November 1956, under the leadership of Newton Glekel, a real estate investor from New York, completed a merger of Divco and Wayne Works, with Divco acquiring the assets of Wayne; a 26% share was owned by the law firm owned by Glekel. Under the merger, Wayne began business as the Divco-Wayne Corporation; by 1961, all management of the merged company came from Wayne, with Glekel serving as president.
Divco-Wayne structure Following the merger, Divco-Wayne expanded into a manufacturing conglomerate; beyond its bus, professional car, and truck product lines, Divco-Wayne expanded into the manufacturing of mobile homes, recreational vehicles, and ambulances. Although Divco would continue the manufacturing of its namesake delivery vehicles, nearly all vehicle manufacturing was completed through Wayne and its professional car subsidiaries.
Delivery vehicles (Divco)
Divco stands for Detroit Industrial Vehicles COmpany. Founded in 1926, Divco was known for its pioneering delivery vehicles, with many examples built as milk trucks. At the time of the Divco-Wayne merger, 75% of milk delivery vehicles sold in the United States were manufactured by Divco.
First built in 1926, Divco produced its delivery trucks until 1986; only the Volkswagen Beetle remained in production under a single generation for longer. Divco trucks have become popular collectible vehicles today.
Following the 1956 merger, Divco-Wayne continued manufacturing of Divco trucks in its Detroit facility. From 1959 to 1961, the company produced the Divco Dividend bus, a Divco truck modified with seats and windows from Wayne buses.
In 1967, Divco-Wayne sold off its namesake truck manufacturing arm to air conditioning manufacturer Transairco. As part of the sale, Transairco shifted manufacturing of Divco trucks in 1969 from Detroit to Delaware, Ohio, lasting until 1986.
Bus manufacturing (Wayne)