Re: Why is it called "up"?

["Tom" <hammerheads@optusnet.com.au>]

The convention is applied to the direction which trains in NSW are
traveling, being denoted thus:
 Up direction - those traveling towards Sydney
 Down direction - those traveling away from Sydney
Other states direction is to their respective capitol city.
That is not confusing, relly that is VERY easy to understand.
hope this is made easy to understand, well if not well you would'nt
understand much then.
Rgds Tom

<greg@mpx.com.au> wrote in message 392bd534.93736122@news.mpx.com.au">news:392bd534.93736122@news.mpx.com.au...
> A few years ago I was at Chatswood station on Sydney's north shore,
> waiting for a train to take me back into town. I poked my nose into
> the old guards shed, and saw a bunch of levers and switches and stuff
> that were marked "up", but it clearly referred to travel in the
> southerly direction, towards the city and Central.
>
> I can see two things wrong with describing a train going from
> Chatswood to Central as being "up":
>
> 1. From Chatswood to Central, you travel south, which on most sensible
> maps is "down".
> 2. Chatswood is at about 100-150m altitude , while Central is pretty
> close to sea level. Travelling from a higher place to a lower one is
> usually described as being in the "down" direction.
>
> Why the confusing terminology?
>