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From: jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick)
Newsgroups: net.railroad
Subject: Re: Right versus Left side
Message-ID: <2568@mit-hermes.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 28-Jan-86 19:03:40 EST
Article-I.D.: mit-herm.2568
Posted: Tue Jan 28 19:03:40 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 30-Jan-86 06:23:09 EST
References: <483@decwrl.DEC.COM> <5390012@acf4.UUCP> <663@hlwpc.UUCP>
Organization: The MIT AI Lab, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 15

> > > Do engineers in the UK sit on the right hand side?
> > 
> > Not surprisingly, they sit on the left, and on standard double-tracked
> > structues, the train normally goes forward on the left-hand track.
> > What is surprising is that this scheme is also followed in France...

Not surprising if you recall that the first French railroads were built by
British engineers. British influence also caused the Chicago and NorthWestern
to run lefthanded. 

But the marine rule is "port to port"--vessels pass on the right, and this
rule is followed on canals, even British ones.