The opposition to railway construction was so great at this time that on one occasion Firbank was captured and kept a prisoner for twenty-four hours.
[2] In 1848, Firbank was engaged on the Rugby and Stamford branch of the North-Western railway, and he lost most of his savings by the bankruptcy of the former contractor of the line.
Firbank established himself at Newport, where he formed an intimate friendship with Crawshay Bailey, the ironmaster, who supported him in his early undertakings.
He was employed in South Wales for thirty years, until the absorption of the Monmouthshire company by the Great Western Railway.
[3] Firbank has been described as "an excellent specimen of the Englishmen who rise up not so much by any transcendent talents, as by intelligence and energy", and above all by a scrupulous "honesty, inspiring confidence".