by ctclark1
Not gonna lie, I was initially drawn to the very obvious "X" in the middle of the fields just east of the area actually in question in your original Cornell link, Russ. Now that I'm focusing on the right spot...
As to the question about why it existed and then was apparently gone so early, was it perhaps an early option for trains on either branch to continue un-interrupted (so-to-speak) onto the opposite branch? For example - The way the tracks show on the 1902 topo map, trains heading south on the Auburn Road would not have been able to continue south on the "Pennsylvania Div" (the west side of Geneva Lake) without stopping and changing ends at Geneva. (and vice-versa - northbound trains on the Penn Div would not have been able to get to the northern Auburn without doing the same)
It is also possible that the east leg of the wye at the county line was not constructed originally, so it would've allowed SB trains on the "Penn Div" (Lyons branch, I assume) to continue eastward on the Auburn... This could have been an early setup, which was succeeded by the "current" layout due to traffic demands and deciding that some paths were unnecessary? (Construct the full wye at the county line to allow Penn Div trains to access the eastward Auburn, but maybe they decided traffic patterns meant Northern Auburn to/from Southern Penn Div was unnecessary.
(I hope that all makes sense. It's what appeared to me as I looked at the "big picture" of here south to Geneva)
As to the question about why it existed and then was apparently gone so early, was it perhaps an early option for trains on either branch to continue un-interrupted (so-to-speak) onto the opposite branch? For example - The way the tracks show on the 1902 topo map, trains heading south on the Auburn Road would not have been able to continue south on the "Pennsylvania Div" (the west side of Geneva Lake) without stopping and changing ends at Geneva. (and vice-versa - northbound trains on the Penn Div would not have been able to get to the northern Auburn without doing the same)
It is also possible that the east leg of the wye at the county line was not constructed originally, so it would've allowed SB trains on the "Penn Div" (Lyons branch, I assume) to continue eastward on the Auburn... This could have been an early setup, which was succeeded by the "current" layout due to traffic demands and deciding that some paths were unnecessary? (Construct the full wye at the county line to allow Penn Div trains to access the eastward Auburn, but maybe they decided traffic patterns meant Northern Auburn to/from Southern Penn Div was unnecessary.
(I hope that all makes sense. It's what appeared to me as I looked at the "big picture" of here south to Geneva)
