| Believe it or not, this is the old r.o.w. of the New York & Oswego, Midland's Auburn branch. The line was built in the late 1860's and like a lot of railroads back in those days it was troubled from the start. This area between Freeville and Auburn was and still is sparsely populated, relatively speaking, and therefore demand for a railroad's services is not enough to keep a railroad profitable in the long run. The Ithaca, Auburn & Western was the last of many companys that operated the NY&Ontario Midland's Auburn branch when the line was abandoned in 1891. You can see evidence of this old R.O.W. all along Rt.34 between Genoa and Venice Center, NY. In fact, in the office of Genoa's DPW there are a couple of old photos from when the tracks were still there. This particular spot is on the west side of Rt.34 just south of Ford Rd. I shot it from the west side of the r.o.w. in the afternoon. |