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Re: Origin of Up/Down railway terms - Britian, etc
- To: ausrail@railpage.org.au
- Subject: Re: Origin of Up/Down railway terms - Britian, etc
- From: "Barry Campbell" <campblbm@ozemail.com.au>
- Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 23:12:17 +1000
- Newsgroups: aus.rail
- Organization: Customer of Access One Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia
- References: <35CA481C.323@alphalink.com.au> <6qdidd$1o0$1@mirv.unsw.edu.au> <35caa2f9.0@139.134.5.33>
Ronald Leslie BEST wrote in message <35caa2f9.0@139.134.5.33>...
>I think the concept of "up" and "down" in Britain pre-dates the railways
>(and possibly also the canals). One spoke of going "up" to "the Metropolis"
>(i.e. London or "the smoke") and "down" to the country.
In Queensland (where else) up is towards the capital city on the coast line
only. Generally lines heading inland ie "up country" are up away from
Brisbane. I haven't a clue why anymore than I know why the British
convention applies interstate but I thought it might be relevant. BTW what
terms do the Yanks and Canadians use?
Barry Campbell