Ron Fitch

Ronald John Fitch (8 June 1910 – 20 July 2015) was an Australian railway executive and railway engineer. The majority of his working career was with the Western Australian Government Railways, Commonwealth Railways and the South Australian Railways, where he served as the Railway Commissioner from 1965 until 1973.

Early life Ronald John Fitch was born on 8 June 1910 in Melbourne, Victoria and was brought up in a railway family in the Perth suburb of Subiaco. His father, four uncles, three cousins and a brother-in-law all worked for major government railways in Australia. In 1927 he was admitted to the University of Western Australia under a cadetship from the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) and by 1932 had graduated. In 1936 Fitch married Doreen Cowden. Railroading at its wildest (1993) and Australian Railwayman: from cadet engineer to Railways Commissioner (2006) – were well received by rail enthusiasts and historians.

In 2002, the University of New South Wales conferred on him a PhD for his critical study of the operational and financial performance of the South Australian Railways from 1900 to 1970. He was believed to be the oldest PhD recipient in the world at the time. He was inducted into the Engineers Australia (South Australian Division) Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2009 he was honoured for his keen interest in railway preservation by the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide when the main display pavilion was named after him. He died on the 20 of July 2015.