HISTORY FEATURE: Inventors and engineering genius who did their Holmes work during rail boom

This is said to have given him the idea for sprung railway buffers, which replaced the old pads stuffed with horsehair.

Isaac’s innovations were large in number during Britain’s railway boom of the 19th century.

He is credited with coming up with the first engine turntables to work on an outer ring, and these were installed at either end of the line between Rotherham and Sheffield.

He also came up with piston rings which allowed train pistons to be horizontal rather than vertical — solving an earlier problem of how to seal a heavy cylinder if it was not upright.

Isaac also came up with the “wedge” motion for locomotive valves, which allowed them to travel uphill more easily (although this claim was disputed by his friend, George Stephenson).

Wrought iron railway wheels, a machine for rolling plate glass and punching and shearing machinery, were also invented by Isaac.

He even came up with spring clips for men to fasten their long-johns to their boots — a bit like bike clips.

He must have been irritated by his underwear riding up over his boots... and so came up with a simple solution. He ended up selling thousands.

A native of Newcastle, Isaac was born in 1801. He was a pleasant and kind chap, wFhose inventive mind helped him stand out, and his energy and drive helped him put his ideas into business.

Uncle Ralph Dodds introduced Isaac to railway engineering pioneers George and Robert Stephenson. Isaac became close with the Stephensons and was an apprentice of Robert’s.

This was an exciting era for those connected with the railway trade — and it was his career which brought Isaac to Rotherham.

Dodds’ sister Eleanor had married a railway contractor called John Stephenson (no relation to George and Robert).

John was involved in many important rail construction works around the country, including the Lancaster to Carlisle line (now part of the West Coast Main Line), some in Scotland and a portion of the North Midland Railway.

In 1836, he persuaded Isaac to leave his role as an engineer with Horseley Iron Works, West Midlands, and come and help built the Sheffield to Rotherham Railway.

Two years later, Isaac’s link with South Yorkshire was solidified when he established the Holmes Engine and Railway Works alongside the canal near Holmes Lock. While the railway was being constructed, Isaac was appointed locomotive superintendent with the responsibility of obtaining trains to run on the line, as there were delays in deliveries from private contractors.

He had bought part of the old Homes Works of Joshua Walker & Co, which had become a soap and candle factory, and turned it into an engineering base.

The buildings were ideally situated — there were adequate supplies of water, good workshops, and access by canal and road (later called Steel Street).

A little ironically, the works were never connected up to the new railway.

From 1838, Isaac lived up the hill from his work HQ, in Kimberworth House. He was also among the first churchwardens after St Thomas’s Church was consecrated in 1843. Between 1838 and 1845, the Holmes Works made steam locomotives and various railway-related products.

One of Isaac’s engines — known locally as Old Cutler — used his innovative method of boiler mounting, and gave good service for about a quarter of a century.         

When the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway was taken over in 1945 by the Midland Railway, the role of loco superintendent was transferred to Derby.

Isaac decided to mothball the Holmes Works, let out Kimberworth House and leave Rotherham. He joined brother-in law John in constructing the railway north from Lancaster over on the west coast.

John died on a visit to Rotherham in 1848 and is buried in Moorgate Cemetery.

Two years later, Isaac returned to Rotherham.

The railway boom was nearing its end and his son, Thomas Weatherburn Dodds, was now 24 and a qualified engineer himself.

The time had arrived for father and son to join forces.

The Holmes Works were reopened and extended, with new furnaces on the north side of Steel Street for steel-making experiments.

Among the workforce were several skilled managers and engineers.

The boiler shop foreman was a certain Robert Jenkins, who was dismissed by the Dodds for not having enough “push”.

Jenkins, from Bristol, was determined to prove his former employers wrong and set up as a boiler maker on Wortley Road, Kimberworth, in 1856.

Robert Jenkins & Co Ltd employed more than 1,000 staff at its peak, was one of three Rotherham factories which made Bailey Bridges during the Second World War, and traded until 2003.

Thomas worked on the “cementation” steel-making process, creating a special furnace with two chambers in 1856. He made an arrangement with Andrew Carnegie for the erection of cementation furnaces in Pittsburgh, which meant a stint working in the US for some of Dodds’ Rotherham employees.

In 1857, the firm used iron plates to build a steamboat, with the aim of demonstrating their many inventions.

Thomas was given the task of designing. The boat was 57ft long with a 7ft beam and the keel was one solid forging from stem to stern. Its 16-horsepower steam engine was powered by a locomotive-type boiler and a propellor nearly 4ft in diameter. There was also a rather cramped cabin.

The boat was named Gazelle and tested on the River Don. It made the trip to London under its own power and demonstrated the possibilities for using steel in ship-building.

It had been a successful but expensive showcase. Gazelle was sold to a private owner.

During the Crimean War, the Dodds moved into armaments production, which was rather apt given their location in the Holmes area where the Walkers had built cannons.

Guns were added to the Dodds company logo around this time but really all that remains today as a nod to the firm’s production of artillery is a row of houses — Ordnance Terrace.

Upper Clara Street was the driveway to Thomas’ large home, the now-demolished Ordnance Villa.

The Dodds had considerable contacts and experience in the railway industry and were encouraged to venture into construction abroad, with the British boom mostly over.

They helped create the line from Santander to Alar but payments from Spain became difficult to come by because of continental corruption which was leading to civil unrest.

The Dodds’ financial losses abroad were not helped by the economic crisis and rising interest rates in Britain in 1866. A receiver was appointed in 1867 and the works closed except for a skeleton staff tasked with disposing the assets.

The main part of the site was purchased by the Park Gate Iron and Steel Co, who expanded their Holmes Blast Furnaces operation.

Thomas spent a few years as an engineer for the North Staffordshire Railway from 1870 before moving to South America to become general manager and director of the Buenos Aires & Pacific Railway.

Isaac moved to Crookes, Sheffield, in 1872 and he died in 1882, aged 81.

Failing health brought Thomas home to South Yorkshire and he died in Sheffield in 1889.

Local historian John Roddis said: “Both men had most interesting and productive lives, and contributed so much to the growth of railways at home and abroad between 1836 and 1872.

“Yet in Rotherham, indeed in the country, they seem largely forgotten. Most of the family records, business papers and archives have been lost and sadly no part of their works at the Holmes remains.

“Ordnance Villa has gone, and Old Kimberworth House was demolished in 1968. All traces of the Dodds and their business enterprises in the Holmes have disappeared.

“When one walks along Steel Street in 2022 it is hard to envisage what a hive of innovation and industry was once there.”

* Based on research by John Roddis and Ian Tompkin, whose book The Story of the Holmes is now available in an enlarged, second edition with extra text and pictures.

The book is £8 (collected) from Les Leng, of Kimberworth, on 07808 646887 or Dave Ede, of Moorgate, on 01709 321521 or 07443 534967. Email [email protected] for mail order details.