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.

[3] 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.

A year later, in 1840, the event was reported in the Western State Journal[3] 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.

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.

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.