UP and DOWN

Railway terminology varies from country to country, between model and reality, and even between different professions within the industry. This forum seeks to clarify such diversity.

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dave55uk
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UP and DOWN

Post by dave55uk »

GB usage

On ALL lines throughout the UK, any line heading towards London is deemed the UP LINE.
Conversely, any line leading away from London is known as the DOWN LINE.

The line itself need not be (geographically speaking) heading towards London - just as long as the route is heading towards London.

In some situations, it is possible the same line leads to London (or indeed, away from London) in both directions - e.g - the line from Cambridge to Ipswich, on which, whichever way you travel, you are travelling towards London. So the line from Cambridge to Chippenham Junction (just east of Newmarket) IN THAT DIRECTION is called the DOWN line, becoming the UP line at Chippenham Junction to Ipswich. In the opposite direction, from Ipswich to Chippenahm Junction is called the DOWN line becoming the UP line at Chippenham Junction.

Hence terms like : up main, down branch, up and down goods.

Used to identify particular tracks to railwaymen so everyone concerned knows EXACTLY which tracks a train is on.

examples:
Newcastle to London is UP
Bristol to London is UP
Portsmouth to London is UP
Statkowski
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UP and DOWN

Post by Statkowski »

I'm sure it can get confusing at times. In the United States and Canada, lines are generally directional based on the railroad. For the most part, lines are classified as Eastward or Westward, even though they may predominantly be Northward or Southward - it all depends on the railroad system. Eastward trains are generally even-numbered, while Westward trains are odd-numbered. For Northward/Southward lines, they generally run on the East-and-North-is-Even/West-and-South-is-Odd arrangement, but not always.

Back before every line under the sun started merging, the New York Central Railroad (running from New York westward to Chicago) classified North-and-West as odd, and South-and-East as even (the main line ran north for 150 miles before heading west to Chicago. The New Haven Railroad, sharing the same terminal in New York City, ran North and East to Boston. Thus, a New York Central train departing New York heading north was odd-numbered, but a New Haven train departing New York heading north was even-numbered.
Jackson
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Post by Jackson »

In Victoria (Australia) lines heading toward Melbourne are UP and those heading away from Melbourne are DOWN. Because of the mostly radial nature of the system there are few points of confusion.

What would be the terminology on lines in the UK like the one between Glasgow and Edinburgh, which way is up?

Jackson
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