In 1851 he resigned from his architectural practice, and in 1856 he moved from Lancaster, spending the remainder of his career mainly as a railway engineer, first in North Wales, then in Switzerland and southern France.

He may have been "acting as a research assistant" while on the Continent,[19] but Hughes states "there is no evidence to suggest that Sharpe spent more time with Rickman, or served any kind of formal apprenticeship with him".

[56] In 1841 he obtained a contract to build three churches and associated structures (vicarages and schools) for the Weaver Navigation Trustees, at Weston Point, Runcorn; Castle, Northwich; and Winsford.

[58] In 1843 Sharpe was able to fulfil his promise to build a church for the Earl of Derby; this was St Mary, Knowsley, which was completed and consecrated the following year.

It could therefore be used for walls, towers, arches, and arcades in a church, for the detailed decoration of capitals and pinnacles, and also, as at St Stephen's, for the furnishings, such as the altar, pulpit, font, organ case, and the pew ends.

The church was consecrated in June 1846, although at the time work on the spire had not yet started and several other features were incomplete, including the heating, seating, and floor tiling.

[1][70] Following Paley's becoming a partner in 1845, the pair worked together to design Lee Bridge in Over Wyresdale (1847), to plan the conversion of a disused manor house into the Furness Abbey Hotel (1847), and to arrange the remodelling of Hornby Castle (1847–52).

[87] The debate between Sharpe and his followers on one side and supporters of Rickman's scheme on the other was published as a series of letters to the journal The Builder until the editor called a halt to the correspondence.

[89] In 1869 Sharpe joined the Architectural Association, established in 1847 "by a group of dissatisfied young architects ... to provide a self-directed, independent education at a time when there was no formal training available".

In 1870 the expedition was to Lincoln, Sleaford, and Spalding;[91] in 1871 to Ely, Lynn, and Boston; the following year to Stamford, Oundle, Wellingborough, and Northampton; and in 1873 to Grantham, Newark, Southwell, Ashbourne, and Lichfield.

[105] Subsequently, Perry reneged on his part of the contract, resulting in serious disputes between Sharpe, Locke, and the directors of the railway company concerning the costs involved and the quality of the work.

An Act for the creation of the Morecambe Harbour and Railway Company (MH&R) received Royal assent in July 1846, the revised plan being to link this line to the "L"NWR at Green Ayre, in the northern part of Lancaster next to the River Lune.

[107] The parts played by Sharpe in all of this financial manoeuvring were conflicting and complex: he was simultaneously a Port Commissioner, a Town Councillor, a member of the board of the Morecambe Bay Harbour Company, and Secretary to the "L"NWR.

[109] In April that year Sharpe had resigned as Secretary to the "L"NWR to enable him to tender for building the line from Morecambe to Wennington, a village north-east of Lancaster near to the Yorkshire border.

[114] In September Sharpe had also resigned as a director of the "L"NWR to become its traffic manager,[115] and was then contracted to manufacture and supply rolling stock for the railway, something for which he had neither expertise nor previous experience.

By February 1851 the line was experiencing difficulties, its traffic being less than expected and its costs rising;[116] and in December Sharpe was given notice that his contract with the company would be curtailed the following month.

The intention for the full line was to build it from the Chester and Holyhead Railway to Betws-y-Coed, passing through Llanrwst; it would be 15 miles (24 km) long, with a gauge of 3 feet 3 inches (991 mm).

[121] A series of discussions and negotiations followed, resulting in changes to the route of the line from the west to the east side of the river, building it to the standard gauge (4 ft 8½in (1,435mm)), and running from Conwy only as far as Llanrwst.

[1][125] In August 1863 Sharpe was granted the concession for building a railway line in southern France from Perpignan to Prades in the Pyrenees, a distance of 26 miles (42 km).

[135] Before, during and after his mayoralty, Sharpe played a major role in promoting sanitary reform, often meeting considerable opposition and needing to use his oratorical, political and persuasive skills to the full.

Sharpe joined them, drawing extensively on his experience of having accompanied Professor Richard Owen (born and educated in Lancaster) on his tour of inspection of the town in 1844.

Later that year, which was during his mayoralty, he travelled to London with the town clerk and a former mayor to meet representatives of the General Board of Health, including its chairman, Lord Morpeth, and its secretary Edwin Chadwick.

[142] In his conclusions, Smith noted that Lancaster was favourably situated to provide a healthy environment for its inhabitants, and that this could be achieved by "a complete and constant supply of pure and soft water, and ... a thorough system of drainage and sewerage".

[146] Sharpe had played a significant part in arranging Queen Victoria's visit to Lancaster in October 1851, and with Paley designed four triumphal arches for the occasion.

[154] Elizabeth Sharpe died on 15 March 1876, a month after the consecration of St Paul, Scotforth where a plaque to her memory can be found in the chancel of the church.

[155] A year later, Sharpe travelled to northern Italy with his two daughters, his youngest son Alfred, and three research assistants, to make drawings of 12th-century churches in the region.

[165] In 1848 Sharpe founded the Lancaster Athenaeum, a private society for "the promotion of public entertainment and instruction",[166] to which end it organised lectures on literary and scientific subjects, concerts and exhibitions.

[167] In 1852 Sharpe became the proprietor of the Phoenix Foundry on Germany Street, which among other things supplied cast iron pipes for the Lancaster waterworks, sewers and drains, and shells for the Crimean War.

During Sharpe's earlier years in practice, between 1838 and 1842, Britain was going through a period of severe economic recession, which may have been why he designed many of his churches to be built as cheaply as possible.

Francis became the proprietor of the Phoenix Foundry, while Edmund (junior) joined the textile-coating firm of Storey Brothers, Lancaster, and later became Lord of the Manor of Halton.