Why "UP" is UP

["Roger Lloyd" <rogerlloyd@optusnet.com.au.nospam>]

In reply to Greg's query (below), the "UP" and "DOWN" designations for
direction of travel is a legacy from England. It is believed to have been
derived from the tracks which served the coalmines - the direction away from
the mine head was "down" (naturally) while the return to the surface and
civilisation was "UP". This convention was later extended to surface
railways, with the direction away from the major town (e.g. London etc
beibng "DOWN").
The good ole Yanks decided not to follow the Poms and generally use "East"
and "West" which is probably just as confusing on north/south lines.
The main proble with the "UP/DOWN" usage is which direction term to apply to
cross country lines e.g. Cootamundra- Stockinbingal-Parkes,
Harden-Cowra-Blayney etc. Does anyone have a complet list of NSW cross
country up/down designations?
Roger Loyd

Greg wrote:
"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? "