Mileposts on the NEC

You're talking about Newark Penn? On the PRR NY Div, end of track at Jersey City was MP 1, so that 8.55 marker is 7.55 miles from there. But NY Penn Station is of course farther. PRR timetables showed 10.0 miles, and I'll bet that's correct.

End of track at Jersey City?

Many of PRR's commuter trains used to run into thier Jersey City terminal, and then commuters would just take a ferry over. Penn station was a sort of, more express station and a lot more of a grand entrence for the big name PRR trains. This is why the NEC is numbered from Jersey City.

On the NEC, MP7.2JC is the same as MP8.6NY. So you have duplicate mile posts between 7.2 and 8.6 which is why they're denoted with either NY or JC. That's right, there are two MP8s!

TAMR213 wrote:Many of PRR's commuter trains used to run into thier Jersey City terminal, and then commuters would just take a ferry over. Penn station was a sort of, more express station and a lot more of a grand entrence for the big name PRR trains. This is why the NEC is numbered from Jersey City.

About 1834, the New Jersey Railroad was started from Jersey City to New Brunswick. In the 1870's the PRR leased the United Railroads (The New Jersey Railroads' successor) for 999 years, so the PRR's original terminus in the NY area was Jersey City, which is why the mileposts were originally numbered from there.

The extension of the PRR across the Meadowlands, the Hudson River tunnels and the opening of Penn Station didn't occur until more than 30 years later in the first decade of the 20th Century.

About the MP's, there is an old, rusted out, white MP with a 6 on it just east of the Hackensack Bridge. The same type of MP is found just outside of PORTAL with an 8 on it. So, if the 6 marks the mileage to JC (because the 8 was very close to NWK), where are the tracks that go there? Or were they destroyed as to leave no signs of it?

"an old, rusted out, white MP with a 6 on it just east of the Hackensack Bridge."

On the line to NY Penn, you mean? That's six miles from some point in NY Penn, close to (but maybe not quite) midway between 7th and 8th Ave.

"The same type of MP is found just outside of PORTAL with an 8 on it."

Like he said, there are/were two MP 8 markers. One is/was near the west end of the bridge over the DL&W main; that's 8 miles from NY Penn. The other is just east of Harrison; it's 7 miles from end of track at Jersey City. The original PRR main to Jersey City went (after 1870 or thereabouts) roughly where PATH now runs from Newark to Exchange Place-- except of course it didn't go underground.