The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1834, to provide easy access between Syracuse, New York, and the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

. Construction was begun in 1835, but was delayed during the Panic of 1837. Although the economic downturn lingered until 1843, the railroad was completed by January 1838. In August 1850, the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad joined the Auburn and Rochester Railroad to form the Rochester and Syracuse Railroad, which later merged with the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

History

Syracuse railroad "subscribers" contributed $31,000 to the $400,000 stock authorized in the incorporation articles received on May 1, 1834. Among the 20 investors was Vivus W. Smith, who later was one of the founders of the '' Syracuse Journal''.

Horse drawn

The work had been done "on the cheap", with low-quality railbed preparation and wooden rails. The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was opened for business on January 8, 1838, with horse-drawn trains and did not use steam locomotives until the introduction of its first, the ''Syracuse'', on June 14, 1839.

Steam locomotive

Only after the advent of the steam railroad did the train finally arrive in Syracuse. Originally, a millpond on the site of the State Armory, located at the present-day

Armory Square Armory Square is a small neighborhood on the west side of Downtown Syracuse, New York. It began life as a busy commercial and industrial area just to the west of the central city. After World War II, Syracuse's central city became less and les ...

on West Jefferson Street, blocked the right-of-way. Until a trestle was built across the pond, passengers were "forced to find other means" of getting into the village of Syracuse from a temporary station at Geddes.

Auburn road

Known as the ''Auburn Road'' (a nickname that later passed to the Rochester and Syracuse Railroad), the company erected a new depot between Salina and Clinton streets in late 1838. Work on the trestle was completed in early 1839, as well as construction of a new railroad station in Downtown Syracuse. By late 1839, one of the trains achieved the run in 58 minutes. A year later, in 1840, the event was reported in the ''Western State Journal'' While passenger service constituted the bulk of the company's revenue operations, an arrangement under the existing canal-protection laws allowed the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad (A&S) to carry freight as well. In this capacity, it served the

rather than competing against it.

Depot

The depot was replaced in 1839, when the depot of the

Syracuse and Utica Railroad The Syracuse and Utica Railroad was chartered May 1, 1836, and had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the Erie Canal. The full line opened July 4, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse, New York to Rome, New York (and further ...

was ready for use. The depot of the original ''Auburn Road'' was not known for either beauty or finish, presenting a "striking contrast to its majestic neighbor across the street."

Rochester and Syracuse railroad

On 1 August 1850, the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad joined the Auburn and Rochester Railroad to form the Rochester and Syracuse Railroad.

New York Central railroad

A weak link in the network of rail lines in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, the A&S achieved distinction only by becoming a constituent of one of the world's genuinely-significant rail companies, the

. It was one of eight independent small lines in upstate New York which Erastus Corning, of Albany, saw as the basis of a statewide consolidation. In 1853, this company became part of the

. Into the 1940s, the New York Central operated at least two passenger trains per day in each direction on the route, with an additional train between Geneva and Syracuse each day except Sundays. The NYC operated one train a day on the route until 1958.New York Central February 16, 1958 timetable, Table 38New York Central October 10, 1958 timetable

Stations served on the route

The following were the stations served on the route in its last years of service: *Syracuse (at Syracuse passengers could make connections to other New York Central trains to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and New York's North Country *Camillus (westbound only) *Martisco (westbound only) *Skaneateles Jct. *Auburn *Cayuga *Seneca Falls *Waterloo *Geneva *Oaks Corners (eastbound only) *Phelps *Clifton Springs *Shortsville *Chapin *Canandaigua *Victor *Pittsford *Rochester

External links

''The Auburn Road: A Study in Early Engineering'', Richard F. Palmer, 1996

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auburn Syracuse Railroad Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad Railway companies established in 1834 Railway lines opened in 1838 Railway companies disestablished in 1850 Defunct New York (state) railroads Defunct railroads in Syracuse, New York 1834 establishments in New York (state) 1850 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1834 American companies disestablished in 1850