William Kelly Wallace

William Kelly Wallace CBE (1883–1969) was an Irish railway engineer who joined the Northern Counties Committee and later became Chief Civil Engineer of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). He was awarded a civil CBE in the 1946 New Year Honours.

Biography William Kelly Wallace was born in 1883 and educated privately. He joined the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee (NCC) railway in Ireland in 1906, after three years of practical training. He gained knowledge as a railway engineering, particularly in bridges inspecting all 228 bridges from Belfast to Londonderry in 1910. In 1919 he an assistant engineer to Bowman Malcolm.

Although primarily a civil engineer, he was appointed to the joint positions of Locomotive Engineer and Civil Engineer on the NCC in 1922 when Bowman Malcolm retired. In 1924 he became chief engineer, a position he held till 1930. he became Chief Civil Engineer. Wallace was an advocate of British Standard track and flat-bottom rails and among the works he carried out were extensive trials of flat-bottom track with two types of baseplate on the former Midland and Caledonian mainlines. In 1948 he left the railway service.

Wallace was known for having a dry sense of humour and was popular with his colleagues. after being on its council and committees for 11 years. In 1949 he chaired the first meeting of its associated society, the British Geotechnical Society, and he received an honorary doctorate of science from Queen's University, Belfast in 1956.

William Kelly Wallace died in Surrey in May 1969.