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Re: What Do Letters On Mileposts Represent? Kettle Falls sub
Author: John Sweetser
Date: 09-01-2015 - 14:14
Disregard all of the above responses.
What you are likely seeing are culvert and bridge markers, not mileposts.
Many railroads, including the SP, the UP and the Santa Fe, used to mark the locations of culverts and bridges with signs that used a combination of numbers and letters. For example, the marker for the first culvert or bridge beyond a milepost would have that milepost number at the top of the sign with the letter "A" below it. The second culvert or bridge in that mile would have the same milepost number but with a "B" below it, and so on.
For the next mile, culvert and bridge markers would have the new milepost number while the letter part of the identifying system started over.
In the 1930s, the SP phased out the number/letter system and started just using numbers (for example: 310.54) while on the Santa Fe, the older system lasted to at least the '50s.
What you are likely seeing are culvert and bridge markers, not mileposts.
Many railroads, including the SP, the UP and the Santa Fe, used to mark the locations of culverts and bridges with signs that used a combination of numbers and letters. For example, the marker for the first culvert or bridge beyond a milepost would have that milepost number at the top of the sign with the letter "A" below it. The second culvert or bridge in that mile would have the same milepost number but with a "B" below it, and so on.
For the next mile, culvert and bridge markers would have the new milepost number while the letter part of the identifying system started over.
In the 1930s, the SP phased out the number/letter system and started just using numbers (for example: 310.54) while on the Santa Fe, the older system lasted to at least the '50s.
