He created many inventions for railways, most notably the split metal piston ring now used by nearly all reciprocating engines.

He was interested in other technologies, installing the 'new' coal gas illumination in the mill and manufacturing a machine to produce cut nails.

[11] In 1862 the L&NWR Northern and Southern divisions were amalgamated with Ramsbottom becoming Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) for the whole system.

[12] During his time as CME he oversaw the enlargement and modernisation of Crewe works, he was responsible for the bulk production of cheap but capable locomotives, introduced ancillary works including the steel plant and a brickworks, and installed an internal narrow-gauge railway to facilitate the movement of material.

[13][14] Ramsbottom retired in 1871 ostensibly because of ill health but likely because his request for a salary increase was turned down by the L&NWR Board of Directors.

[15] The L&NWR continued to pay Ramsbottom an annual stipend of £1,000 for several years after he left, valuing his expertise as a consultant if not as an employee.

[16] However, in 1883 Ramsbottom became a consulting engineer and a director of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR), where his major legacy was the establishment of Horwich Works on a greenfield site near Bolton.

[45] His interest in the College was such that he established a scholarship, tenable for two years to be competed for by young men employed in the locomotive department of the L&NWR.

[47] They lived near Longsight depot where Ramsbottom was based at the time, their son William Henry was born here on 28 February 1852.