In 1888, machinist and inventor Eben N. Higley patented a drilling and sawing machine for railroad rails, and soon established the Higley Sawing & Drilling Machine Co. in New York City to manufacture and market his invention.

The sawing portion of the machine used a large circular saw blade to cut the rails. The blade had a ring of holes near its rim, with pinions on a bevel gear that meshed in the holes and rotated the blade. This novel mechanism proved to be effective and soon the Higley cold saw was a fixture in rail shops across the country.

In 1900 the Higley Machine Co. of Croton Falls, NY, was established to take over the business of the Higley Sawing & Drilling Machine Co., with machinery dealer J. R. Vandyck Co. (later the Vendyck Churchill Co.) as their sales representative. A series of patents document improvements to the Higley cold saw. None of these patents were granted or assigned to Eben Higley and it seems likely that he was no longer involved in the business. Sometime during the 1920s the business relocated to South Norwalk, CT. In January 1928 the company announced that they were contracting manufacture of the Higley cold saw to the Black Rock Manufacturing Co. of Bridgeport, CT, with the Higley company continuing to develop and sell the saws. In 1929 the Higley Machine Company announced new and improved bandsaw filing machine and metal cutting saw. This seems to have been the company's last gasp as they seem disappeared shortly afterwards.

• The earliest patent to Eben N. Higley we have found is an 1864 patent for harrow teeth (patent 43,500).
• 1877 Public Documents of the State of Maine; Being the Reports of the Various Public Officers and Institutations for the Year 1877, Volume I, under Berwick, lists manufacturers, including "Eben N. Higley, machinist".
• Patents dating 1875 to 1882 were granted to Eben N. Higley for boot and shoe making machinery and accessories.
• In 1886 Higley was granted a pair of patents (334,228 and 353,028) for railway ties.
• 1889-08-28 The Railroad Gazette lists exhibitors at the Seventh Annual Convention of the New England Roadmasters' Association in Boston, including "The Higley Sawing & Drilling Machine Co., 45 Broadway, New York, the Higley Patent Rail Saw."
• 1889 Reports of the Commissioners to the Universal Exposition of 1889 at Paris, in its list of exhibitors: "Higley Sawing and Drilling Machine Co., 45 Broadway, New York, N. Y."
• 1900 issue of Machinery.

  The Higley Machine Co., Croton Falls, N. Y., has just been formed, to take over the business of the Higley Sawing & Drilling Machine Co. The products of the Higley Machine Co. are handled by the J. R. Vandyck Co., 136 Liberty St., New York.

• Railway and Locomotive Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 9, Sep. 1904, Pg. 431. "Higley Machine Co." is visible on the side of the saw.
• American Machinist, Vol. 30, No. 52, Dec. 26, 1907, Pg. 28.
• January 1928 Machinery.

  Higley Machine Co., South Norwalk, Conn., has recently closed a contract, under the terms of which the Black Rock Mfg. Co., of Bridgeport, Conn., will manufacture the Higley line of cold sawing equipment. The Higley Machine Co. will continue to maintain its own offices, engineering and sales department, under the management of L. M. Waite, who for the last two years, in connection with C. B. Foster, chief engineer, has been actively engaged in the development of Higley cold sawing equipment.

• 1929 issue of Industrial Week (Vol. 85, p. 917).

  An improved band-saw filing machine was shown in operation by the Higley Machine Co., South Norwalk, Conn., together with a semiautomatic machine for resharpening hacksaw blades and a metal cutting saw of 8-inch capacity. This machine featured a screw-feed table for handling heavy bars of stock, while gage stops were provided for cutting a number of pieces to a previously determined length.

• FindAGrave page on Eben N. Higley (1843-1920). It notes that after the Civil War, "Eben moved to Somersworth (Great Falls), NH, where he took up work as a machinist, later running his own business from 1869 to 1882. After selling the company, he went to work as an inventor, submitting numerous ideas to the US Patent Office."