[OHM] resuming work on the OHM Ghost Tracks project

[Richard Welty]

[this is longish, so i'm putting my request for thoughts, comments
and suggestions up front]

i'd been doing a bit of work gradually adding race tracks that
are no longer with us to OHM. it ground to a halt with the crash,
but i have been inspired to relaunch it.

because it's expanding into a media effort of which OHM is an important
component, i thought i'd discuss some of what i'm doing here. a key
element is that there are a lot of folks in the racing community who
are interested in "Ghost Tracks", and they are worth reaching out to.

things i've done within the past month

1) identify a couple of tracks whose data was lost in the crash, and
started to restore them

2) fixed my interactive track map widget - the URL for overpass
changed on the revived server, a point that i missed on

3) picked Thompson Speedway in NE Connecticut as a focus; Thompson
is a track of considerable historic importance that isn't as well
known as it deserves to be, plus i get there a couple of times a year,
usually as a race official, but more recently driving a little bit.
but Thompson isn't a Ghost Track, you say? well that part of the fun
of the history. there have been 4 distinct Road Courses in service
since 1952, none exactly the same (and one of the 4 extremely
different). the older circuits can be mapped, and traces of them
may be found on the current site. my interactive map of Thomposon
is a work in progress, more research is needed, but it's getting
there.

4) i have created a Facebook Page and Group ("Ghost Tracks on
OpenHistoricalMap") as well as a Patreon Page, and because of the
Thompson work, i've collected a few interested folks.

5) a week ago, when i was there working as the Chief of Tech
for an SCCA Majors race, i led a Sunday Morning track walk
directed towards finding evidence of the first three road courses.
It was tremendously productive. In fact, I'm roughing out a video
for a planned Youtube Channel using the interactive map intercut
with video clips to show various signs of the old tracks. The
first draft of the video has been published on the FB group only.
I'm debating launching the Youtube Channel with a draft clip.


Interactive OHM/OSM Thompson Speedway map:

http://www.na-motorsports.com/test/Thompson.html

Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/GhostTracksOnOHM/

Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1618875298343172/

Patreon Page:

https://www.patreon.com/GhostTracks

-- 
rwelty at averillpark.net
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