An air carrier flight crew flying a B727 at ewr reports confusion with taxiway ramp markings at ewr.

Attributes
ACN	485177
Time
Date	200009
Day	Wed
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ewr.airport
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B727 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	ground : taxi ground : holding
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument pilot : multi engine
ASRS Report	485177
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : atp
ASRS Report	485176
Events
Anomaly	conflict : ground less severe incursion : taxiway non adherence : clearance
Independent Detector	other controllera other flight crewa other flight crewb other other : 4
Resolutory Action	controller : provided flight assist flight crew : became reoriented none taken : detected after the fact
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Ambiguous

Narrative:

ATC facility: ewr tower. Location: ewr taxiway. Landed runway 4R and were told to turn off on taxiway west. Tower then said 'you're past taxiway west, turn right at the end and hold short of runway 4L on this frequency.' we cleared and as I was doing the after landing scan/checklist, tower stated 'hold your position.' it appeared that we were into the overrun of runway 4L. Contributing factors were the confusion of where we turned off and runway 11/29 being there also. Additionally, the overrun did not appear to have the same markings as a typical intersection of a taxiway and a runway. Also, it was night.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR FLC FLYING A B727 AT EWR RPTS CONFUSION WITH TXWY RAMP MARKINGS AT EWR.

Narrative: ATC FACILITY: EWR TWR. LOCATION: EWR TXWY. LANDED RWY 4R AND WERE TOLD TO TURN OFF ON TXWY W. TWR THEN SAID 'YOU'RE PAST TXWY W, TURN R AT THE END AND HOLD SHORT OF RWY 4L ON THIS FREQ.' WE CLRED AND AS I WAS DOING THE AFTER LNDG SCAN/CHKLIST, TWR STATED 'HOLD YOUR POS.' IT APPEARED THAT WE WERE INTO THE OVERRUN OF RWY 4L. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE THE CONFUSION OF WHERE WE TURNED OFF AND RWY 11/29 BEING THERE ALSO. ADDITIONALLY, THE OVERRUN DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE THE SAME MARKINGS AS A TYPICAL INTXN OF A TXWY AND A RWY. ALSO, IT WAS NIGHT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.