Switzerland in the Roman era after which the area began to be occupied by Germanic peoples. The Swiss plateau, within the natural borders of the Alps to the South and East, Lake Geneva and the Rhône to the west and the Rhine to the north, was recognized as a contiguous territory by Julius Caesar. This area had been dominated by the La Tène culture since the 5th century BC, settled by a mostly Celtic population (Gauls), of which the Helvetii were the most numerous, but which also included the Rauraci in north-west Switzerland centered on Basel, and the Allobroges around Geneva. South of the Swiss
Geneva and Lyons Railroad which was overloading the single track of the Auburn Road. Construction of the Geneva and Lyons was underway by the spring of 1878. The first passenger train over the railroad ran on November 11, 1878, and was operated by the Fall Brook, continuing south to Corning. While the new railroad was owned and operated by the New York Central, which had advanced the funds for its construction, the Fall Brook continued to operate trains over the Geneva and Lyons and the Northern Central Railway also arranged for trackage rights over the railroad in 1878. George J. Magee, of the Fall