share this depot for their passenger line once the trains began running continuously. By March 1877, track from Galveston to Arcola was complete and arrangements were being made to put regular trains on the line. The company planned to cross the Brazos River and proceed to Richmond, where it would connect with the San Antonio line. This would make one continuous route to Galveston 11 miles shorter than any other road. By the next year, the company also completed an iron bridge 480 feet long over the Brazos River, and by October, a regular train was being run over the road. In December 1878, the company began to experience financial difficulties. Directors voted to advertise for a loan of $250,000 for 90 days, which would enable them to pay off the debts and finish the road to Richmond. The only offer for the loan was made by a group of Galveston citizens headed by Galveston businessman George Sealy. The loan was secured by a deed of trust on the entire properties of the railway company. When the 90-day note matured, the company did not have the funds to pay for it. Therefore, on April 15, 1879, the entire properties of the line were sold at a public sale in front of the courthouse. The highest bid was for $200,000 made by George Sealy. The new company was organized, and directors were elected. By May, the new directors had organized a corps of engineers to locate the line to Brenham. Chief engineer, Bernard Moore Temple, sent surveyors into the interior of Texas, and as the line was located, Temple followed with construction crews. The new directors also obtained rights to build a spur into Houston. By this time, the real importance of a line into Houston had been realized, and the success of the road depended on it. In 1880, the GC&SF won fame by establishing the first daily newspaper train in the U.S. Because of another quarantine placed on Galveston by Houston, the Galveston News arranged for a special train to carry the newspaper from Galveston to Rosenberg. There, the newspaper was transferred to the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad, which distributed the news across Texas. The road reached a distance of 226 miles upon reaching Belton in March 1881. The company had also constructed a telegraph line along the line of the railroad, and they began seeing a