So that is exactly what he has done. And that's what makes his biography about John Ramsbottom, Victorian railway engineering giant and long-forgotten son of Todmorden, so fascinating.

The result is an intriguing insight into the 19th-century engineer who built up an international reputation for himself and his achievements during his lifetime. It is the first biography of him to be published.

Robin, originally from Galloway, Scotland, reveals that when he came from Belfast to live in Todmorden around 13 years ago, he had no idea it was the birthplace of one of our greatest Victorian railway engineers.

"I knew he existed, of course, but other than that I knew very little about him.

"I suppose I decided I would get to know more about him," says Robin, who used to run Pangolin Books with wife Sarah.

"I started off with my research about 10 years ago and at that time I had no idea what I was going to do with it. It all depended on what there was to be discovered.

"I thought possibly I would have enough information for a talk or maybe a small pamphlet."

But thanks to his determination and disciplined research, the result is a full biography of Ramsbottom, which Robin now hopes will "help re-establish the respect he deserves".

"I wasn't on a crusade to right an injustice because I felt he had been forgotten. But you could say this has been a way of setting the record straight."

Robin says he has always been a steam railway enthusiast, inheriting the passion from his father. One of his grandfathers also worked for the London and North Eastern Railway's hotels department.

"Like most boys I was brought up on Thomas the tank Engine by the Rev W Awbry."

Robin's book begins with background to Ramsbottom's career when he was working for his father on the first steam factory in Todmorden. It charts how his skills as an engineer were developed in the town before he finally left to work for Sharp, Roberts and Co, locomotive builders in Longsight, Manchester, during the cotton depression of 1839.

"I do believe Ramsbottom, as well as being a highly inventive and skilled engineer, was also an organisational genius," says Robin, who tells how he was appointed to be in sole charge of Crewe railway works.

Under Ramsbottom's leadership, Crewe was soon to become the largest and most efficient railway works in the world.

An intriguing part of the book explores Ramsbottom's unexpected departure from Crewe. Robin descri-bes in detail the engineer's meeting with directors, which includes a scene where £23,000 worth of uncashed cheques are hurled into an open fire by a smiling John Rams-bottom.

Throughout the book there are insights into Ramsbottom's character as Robin reveals exactly what made this genius tick.

"I was determined that if I was going to write this biography then it would be as much about the engineer as the engineering. I felt I needed to do that in order to engage the reader. And I have enjoyed finding the man," says Robin.

"In that way I hope that the book will be of interest to those who enjoy the technical data about engineering and inventions but also to those who know nothing about engineering."

The result is a mix of biographical detail, interlaced with rich technical illustrations as well as appendices, including those listing each of Ramsbottom's 23 patents.

There are nostalgic maps of the various railway works and photographs of goods and passenger engines – a reminder of a long-forgotten era.
"This year is the 40th anniversary of the end of steam on British railways and it makes the book all the more timely," says Robin.
He admits the research often brought him to dead ends.

"The trouble with engineers is that they never leave any papers behind. If you're researching a writer, say Thomas Hardy for example, every single scrap of paper relating to him would have been preserved in a museum somewhere.

"But engineers are mysterious people. They don't leave a lot behind for people like me to look into. So, yes, there have been times when you just come up against a wall. You have to leave it and move on and then somehow something will come up," he says.

The book came about after Robin gave a talk about Ramsbottom to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway who asked him if he had thought about writing a biography.

"They've been very supportive, especially Robin Mellor who has edited it and sourced many of the illustrations," says Robin.

• John Ramsbottom, A Victorian Engineering Giant by Robin Pennie, is available from Fred Wade, Halifax; The Bookcase, Hebden Bridge; Todmorden Tourist Information and Cryer's of Todmorden.