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<div dir="auto">Kevin Kenny wrote:
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<div dir="auto">> disused - track still present, could be put back into service </div>
<div dir="auto">> with minimal work (vegetation clearance, track inspection, ...)</div>
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<div dir="auto">> abandoned - track still present, deteriorated, would need </div>
<div dir="auto">> construction work (repairing washouts//slides, realigning </div>
<div dir="auto">> track, removing trees, ...) before being placed in service</div>
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<div dir="auto">> razed - rails lifted or buried [1], sleepers and ballast may </div>
<div dir="auto">> remain, traces on the ground such as embankments, </div>
<div dir="auto">> cuttings and drainage features observable OR track visible </div>
<div dir="auto">> in obsolete imagery and way included to prevent re-</div>
<div dir="auto">> addition of a demolished feature.</div>
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<div dir="auto">That isn't how the tags are customarily used.</div>
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<div dir="auto">In OSM to date, the majority usage is</div>
<div dir="auto"><span style="caret-color: rgb(39, 39, 40); color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto"><span style="caret-color: rgb(39, 39, 40); color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(39, 39, 40); color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);"> </span>disused = tracks still down</div>
<div dir="auto"><span style="caret-color: rgb(39, 39, 40); color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(39, 39, 40); color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);"> </span>abandoned = no tracks but <span style="color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);">clear traces remain</span></div>
<div dir="auto"><span style="color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);"> dismantled (or razed) = no clear traces</span></div>
<div dir="auto"><span style="color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto"><span style="color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);">This has been the case since OSM year dot and was strongly influenced by the terminology traditionally used in the UK. dismantled/razed is a newer tag.</span></div>
<div dir="auto"><span style="color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto">Obviously individual mappers have their own preferences, but in many years of editing features adjacent to disused railways, I'd say the "disused=tracks, abandoned=no tracks" rule is followed in 90-something% of cases.</div>
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<div dir="auto">(dismantled/razed - the tags are synonymous - is something I find useful where a railway bridge deck has been removed, typically over a river or road, but the pillars or abutments are still standing.)</div>
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<div dir="auto"><span style="color: var(--textColor); background-color: var(--backgroundColor);">Richard</span><br /></div>
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