[1] In about 1838–9 he moved to London and entered the office of Sir William Cubitt, who was mentor to several Victorian railway engineers.

Subsequently, Higinbotham was appointed as assistant engineer of the South Eastern Railway on the Ashford and Canterbury branch.

Higinbotham supervised the surveying and construction of all new Victorian lines (his first projects were lines to Ballarat and Echuca via Bendigo)[4] and championed various rail improvements, including city station locations, construction of Melbourne's Outer Circle Railway, adaptations to permit unbroken rail traffic between Sydney and Melbourne, and, importantly, uniform adherence to a standard gauge of five feet 3 inches across all Victoria railways.

[2][4] Along with other senior public servants, he was removed from office in January 1878 by the Berry government, and was replaced by Robert Watson.

[1] In March 1880, the Service government reappointed him engineer-in-chief of the Victorian Railways, but the ministry soon fell and Higinbotham was unhappy under its successor.