Funny that.... when I grew up in the North East, I always thought of London and the South as being "down."

I mean, they are, on a map,  aren't they?

There again, I'm upsidedown or down under these days, so what the.... 

In the 70's us Railwaymen just referred to it as the "Devil's Hoof print".

I always thought it was a reference to line direction, therefore the Sealink version was reversed to appease the other side..
Still wish I had all the company badges / clothing that I was issued with though.  I do still have an original HV vest, as its compulsory to carry them in cars over here.

Jerry

Quote from: newportnobby on April 02, 2016, 01:44:11 PM

Quote from: PostModN66 on April 02, 2016, 12:22:14 PM

Quote from: newportnobby on April 02, 2016, 09:54:32 AM
Maybe it's no coincidence that, when building a UK outline model railway, the outer loop is the 'Up' line and travels clockwise

Unless, of course "London" is off to the right.............

....as is the case on both of my layouts, the outer loop is decidedly 'Down'!

Cheers  Jon     

But the top arrow of indecision (outer loop = Up line) does point to the right and travel is 'Up' to the capital so London would be off to the right

Wouldn't the bottom arrow correspond to the outside loop, implying that the outer loop is always down?      

...but seriously, I think that 'up' and 'down' for a model depends on what you decide it to be, using whichever of the above criteria, rather than always being one way or the other for a model.  Otherwise it would be very confusing if the 'model' nomenclature was the opposite to the 'real' situation.

Cheers  Jon 

Agree with the above, if the outer loop was clockwise and up, and we assume up is in the direction of London, then London would be off to the left.

Personally mine has London to the right, the inside loops are up, and run anti-clockwise.

Quote from: railsquid on April 01, 2016, 11:19:31 PM
Aka the Arrows of Indecision.

http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/the-untold-story-of-the-british-rail-logo-11363968427192
http://www.doublearrow.co.uk/home.htm

It reflects the BR logo

" Backwards & Downhill"

Quote from: GScaleBruce on April 02, 2016, 10:52:52 AM
The logo is always shown with the top arrow facing left and yes, it does correspond to the direction of rail travel. The exception (that proves the proverbial rule) is on Sealink ship funnels where the top arrow always pointed forward.

That was because the BR Design Panel decided that the funnel was to regarded as a flag so the image is reversed on the port side. Both sides are visible in the third photo here.

http://ferrycrossings.org.uk/ferry-operators/history-sealink-ferry/

Quote from: Arrachogaidh on April 02, 2016, 05:48:04 PM

Quote from: njee20 on April 02, 2016, 04:14:07 PM
Agree with the above, if the outer loop was clockwise and up, and we assume up is in the direction of London, then London would be off to the left.

Personally mine has London to the right, the inside loops are up, and run anti-clockwise.

Of course, at the end of the day Rule #1 applies and you can run up and down like the mouse on the clock!

And a single line is both Up and Down.

Does it not rather depend on one's viewpoint?

My layout, and many exhibition layouts, are operated from 'behind', whereas many viewers would see the opposite, so left and right are not appropriate.

East/west/north/south are the main indicators, I'd have thought. Unless you accept that your world is limited to your layout, in which case, mostly, London doesn't exist. 

My layout is all set in London so I suppose Up is towards Waterloo and Down is towards the coast... Roger.

When the logo was introduced, I remember one newspaper suggesting it confirmed British Rail didn't know which way it was going.

I was a teenager at the time and was totally horrified by the blandness of it.

From what I remember, at Maidstone West in Kent, both lines were technically 'UP' as they both headed off towards London.

Doesn't matter on my own layout as London is across the Irish sea... 

I see some derogatory comments re: the logo origins but for me, I always thought the double arrow logo was very cleverly devised and somewhat timeless -hence it's prevalence still.

Quote from: RST on April 08, 2016, 11:30:31 PM
I see some derogatory comments re: the logo origins but for me, I always thought the double arrow logo was very cleverly devised and somewhat timeless -hence it's prevalence still.

I agree, I think it's great.  Instantly recognisable and timeless like you say.

Living where I do, I have to agree that it is instantly recognisable and probably a Godsend to overseas tourists (particularly Americans ).

However, I was still horrified when it was introduced. 

Quote from: Bealman on April 09, 2016, 10:07:51 AM
However, I was still horrified when it was introduced. 

I can understand why you were horrified, it has neither the character nor the elegance of the British Railways logos.

On the other hand, its simplicity reflected a gradual move away from traditionally complicated designs, and it virtually shouts out railway.

Been around now for most of my life, and I can't see any reason to change it - so it will probably outlive me!