Adelaide Railway Station: Keith examines some of the history of this 1920's building in the Adelaide City region of South Australia
The Adelaide Railway Station is one of Adelaide's grand old buildings. It was finished in 1928 and the Railway Commissioner who built it was pretty well finished too.
It's a story that takes us back to the roaring 20s. Things were ticking along nicely thanks very much. Except for the rail system that is - it was a disaster - run down, poorly managed, and incredibly inefficient. Enter railway man, William Alfred Webb - headhunted from America to become Railways Commissioner in 1923, he revolutionised our railways and the grand, imposing station on North Terrace is symbolic of his relentless determination.
John Evans, Rail Historian: "What it tells us about Webb is that everything he put his hand on was on a grand scale. His creed was basically 'let's reduce train miles which is where the expenses were racked up and let's improve ton miles which is where the revenue came from'. His recipe was big capacity freight cars, very big large powered locomotives on a substantial piece of track. And he did all of that in basically seven years."
It was an extraordinary achievement - a total overhaul of the state wide system and the station was the crown on top. 'Webb's Palace' they called it and for rail historians like John Evans it remains a symbol of the time when the railways ruled.
In true American style, everything Webb did was big - that meant bigger engines to pull bigger loads. Soon, his new fleet of giant locomotives was being unloaded at Port Adelaide. Built in England but to American specifications of course.
John Evans: "He was controversial but one thing seemed to really capture the public's imagination was the big engines. The big engines came out in 1926, number 700 was the first followed by number 501 and they caught the imagination of the South Australian public."
In fact, they chugged and puffed South Australia to the very front of the line - we had the biggest and best in the nation. And we loved it. And that's why we needed a central station to match. Nine platforms today but in its day there were thirteen. It was Adelaide's suburban AND country terminal - all trains came and went from here.
The station was virtually a mini city in its own right… fruit stalls, newsagent, the dining hall was billed as handsome and magnificently appointed. It even its own barber shop - all part of Webb's grand plan.
John Evans: "Now the story of how Webb built this station is incredible. He created a bit of a fictitious budget line that was labeled 'alterations'. And over a period of several financial years some ?150,000 was deposited in this alterations line. It was the equivalent of millions of dollars today. No-one knows for sure but it's believed that the station cost ?800,000 to build."
It almost sent South Australia broke and Webb didn't make many friends - his workplace reforms meant the unions hated him; most of the Parliamentarians hated him too - not to mention one of the local papers, The Register.
John Evans: "I guess one of Webb's problems was that he thought the railway station would get busier and busier. He built it with expansion in mind and he didn't count on cars coming!"
The advent of the motor car and the onset of the Depression meant Webb's welcome was well and truly worn out and he returned to America in 1930.
So next time you're catching the 12.03 to Brighton or for that matter anywhere else, spare a thought for William Webb, the controversial Commissioner who left us a considerable legacy.
Published 4th May 2010
