In both Rahway and Linden in New Jersey they have a street grid though not in union with each other. Meaning E-W prefixed streets in Rahway run the same direction as N-S prefixed streets in neighboring Linden.
However, both use the Amtrak NE- Corridor as the baseline for where E turns to W (in Rahway) and N turns to S (in Linden) instead of another street.
Are there any cities that use a railroad as the base line like both Rahway and Linden in Union County, NJ?
In Albuquerque's quadrant system, the E/W divider is the BNSF railroad line (formerly ATSF) while Central Avenue/old US 66 is the N/S divider. I always found it odd that neither divider ran perfectly N/S or E/W.
Many of the towns along CA 99 in the San Joaquin Valley utilize the UP (former SP) main line through town as the "zero" point for the streets perpendicular to the tracks. Madera, Merced, and Modesto all use the tracks as that grid "starting point"; Madera considers those streets "east" and "west"; Merced "north" and "south", while Modesto bases only its downtown grid, essentially set at a 45 degree angle from a true N-S/E-W axis, to have its grid pattern start with the rail line. Farther afield, the grid reverts to a normative N-S-E-W pattern to match the city's expansion into what was county territory laid out in a compass-correct grid pattern.
Oklahoma City uses the BNSF mainline through downtown as the E-W reference. Where the railroad turns away from this reference, there is Santa Fe Ave.
This is extremely common in the Midwest if the PLSS grid isn't used. Sometimes you get two grids for those towns, one based off the railroad (or former railroad), and one based off the PLSS outside of the downtown area.
Examples:
Plano, IL (https://goo.gl/maps/GoT9qzqiwML2), BNSF line runs through middle of town.
Sycamore, IL (https://goo.gl/maps/niGqeJiUC9t), former rail line runs along north edge of town grid.
Manteno, IL (https://goo.gl/maps/DJixHjonSa62), CN (former IC) line runs through middle of town.
Harvard, IL (https://goo.gl/maps/2pBDbvHXvFN2), UP line runs through middle of town. Note the two grids.
Crystal Lake, IL (https://goo.gl/maps/iRTAoA2gkRB2), UP line runs through middle of town. Note the multiple grids.
Clifton, IL (https://goo.gl/maps/wsSjMpWAKrv), CN (former IC) line runs through middle of town.
Agreed, this is über-common in the high plains states where the railroads were laid first and then the small towns quickly followed.
Mike
Quote from: mgk920 on August 03, 2018, 10:57:40 AM
Agreed, this is über-common in the high plains states where the railroads were laid first and then the small towns quickly followed.
Mike
Same is true in many small NJ and PA towns, when rail lines were commuter lines into the cities.
In Amarillo, the BNSF (originally the Fort Worth and Denver) railroad is the zero-point for N-S addressing and E-W numbered streets. Similarly, the east TX town of Jacksonville has the UP (previously the Missouri Pacific, originally the International & Great Northern) as their zero-point for N-S addressing (no numbered streets there, though).
Ruston, LA uses the KCS mainline to divide north & south. US 167 north divides east from west.
This is an almost trivial example, but: Decatur, GA has two streets with N/S prefixes, and for both of them the railroad running through downtown (SW-NE at about a 20-25 degree angle) is the inflection point. There is also one other street that exists as a "south" only; I think it may have formerly crossed the railroad, but no longer does and the disconnected northern portion was given a new name. Even for streets that exist only on one side of the railroad, addresses increase going away from the railroad.
Haddonfield, NJ uses the PATCO/Atantic City line as East vs West prefixed roads
BNSF line in Celina, TX is the E-W zero line. Track is straight as an arrow but doesn't run due N-S, though, so the old part of town has its grid off the cardinal points parallel and perpendicular to the tracks.