William Bridges Adams (1797 – 23 July 1872) was an author, inventor and locomotive engineer. He is best known for his patented Adams Axle — a successful radial axle design in use on railways in Britain until the end of steam traction in 1968 — and the railway fishplate. His writings, including English Pleasure Carriages (1837) and Roads and Rails (1862) covered all forms of land transport.