Re: Why is it called "up"?

[Hubert Lam <hubert@imap4.com>]

greg@mpx.com.au got bored on Wed, 24 May 2000 13:18:40 GMT and so wrote the following:
 
          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? 

up in Sydney really means "towards Central", but an exception is that going away from Central to
Hornsby via North Shore is actually "down" (which I think is what the SRA working timetable says),
since trains from Penrith and Main North (Hornsby via Epping) were travelling with the "up"
direction before it reaches Central, but after Central technically it's travelling "down" (away from
Central). So to simplify things a little, "Up shore" is actually from Central to Hornsby via North
Shore.

Same goes for "down north shore" being towards Central, but after Central it is down main west or
north if you go to Hornsby via Epping.