Woods remained until the end of 1852 in charge of the works appertaining to the Liverpool and Manchester section, including the construction of the Victoria Tunnel (completed 1848) between Edge Hill station and the docks, a large goods station adjoining the West Waterloo Dock, and a line between Patricroft and Clifton, opened in 1850.

In 1836 he made observations on the waste of fuel due to condensation in the long pipes conveying steam a quarter of a mile to the winding engines used for hauling trains through the Edge Hill tunnel, the gradient of which was then considered too steep for locomotives.

The consumption of fuel in locomotives was the subject of a paper presented by him to the Liverpool Polytechnic Society in 1843 (published in 1844), and of a contribution to a new edition of Thomas Tredgold's Steam Engine in 1850.

[1] In 1853 Woods carried out, with W. P. Marshall, some experiments on the locomotives of the London and North Western Railway, between London and Rugby, and three joint reports were made to the general locomotive committee of the railway, recommending certain weights and dimensions for various classes of engines.

[1] In 1877, as president of the mechanical science section of the British Association, he delivered an address on 'Adequate Brake Power for Railway Trains.'