milepost

plural mileposts

1. automotiveA post on a highway, often with one or more fingerposts, showing the distance in miles to nearby places.

   Synonyms: milepole

2. rail transportA sign or post beside a railway marking the distance from the (actual or nominal) start of a line (usually the principal terminus or junction with a more major line).

   But beyond these cut-offs, to avoid the wholesale alteration of all mileposting and mileages—of bridges and culverts, for example—the original mileposts have remained unaltered.

   1946 July and August, “Mileposts and their Peculiarities”, in Railway Magazine, page 217

   1 more example

   [...] the 4 miles at 1 in 180 up to Sanquhar were mounted with no greater fall in speed than from 65 to 59 m.p.h., after which, possibly as a result of easing the engine or because the strain on steam supply was beginning to tell, the final 3½ miles up at 1 in 200 up to milepost 59½ were surmounted at a minimum of 49½ m.p.h.

   1960 April 28, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 212

present singular third person mileposts · participle present mileposting · participle past mileposted · past mileposted

1. intransitivetransitiveTo place mileposts along (a road, etc.).