William A. Webb (1878–1936) was an American railroad engineer who was appointed Commissioner of the South Australian Railways in 1923. He retired in 1930.
He rejuvenated and modernised this system, amidst a lot of controversy, especially regarding the cost.
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He introduced new and powerful classes of locomotives, often to American designs, even though they might be built by British firms. Bogie waggons replaced 4-wheelers, while buffer and chain couplings of the British type were replaced by the American Alliance type.
The new locomotive classes were distinguished by numbers, such as 520 and 620 classes, rather than letters such as the older M, R and Rx classes.
In 1924, Webb was loaned to the Tasmanian Railways to give advice on matters.[1]