Re: Why "UP" is UP

[Mark Bau <markbau@altavista.com>]

> From: "Roger Lloyd" <rogerlloyd@optusnet.com.au.nospam>
> Newsgroups: aus.rail
> Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 21:38:53 +1000
> Subject: Why "UP" is UP
> 
> 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.

Ever since train orders were done away with the US now uses northbound,
southbound etc as well as east/westbound.

In many ways though these terms are relatively meaningles now that we have
train numbers/symbols which actually tell you were are train came from and
where it is going. However in the US they rarely use the symbol over the
radio, (even though every train has a symbol) instead they use the lead loco
number and append west/east/north/south to it.

2 reasons for this. You can easily have 2 trains with the same symbol, only
the date will be different, loco numbers are very specific, ie, there is
only one "UP 4000".

Of all the explanations I've ever heard for up/down, the two I like most is
the coalfields one and the train controllers graph one. Its doubtfull we'll
ever find out their true origins.

Mark