[Tagging] tagging for decaying features

[Kevin Kenny]

On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 5:04 AM, Martin Koppenhoefer <dieterdreist at gmail.com>
wrote:

> > On 3. Jan 2018, at 23:06, Warin <61sundowner at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I have moved some disused:railway=* from OSM to OHM as railway=* with
> start and end dates .. that records what was there then, not its present
> state ...
>
>
> disused:railway is about something that is there (a disused railway
> element like tracks or a station), abandoned:railway is also about disused
> railways, but in a state of degradation (e.g. trees growing between the
> tracks). razed railways would typically not be mapped in osm, as they are
> no longer there. IIRR there is also the proposed concept of dismantled
> railways where the tracks are removed but it is still perceivable as former
> railway (e.g. embankments and tunnels, bridges). While disused and
> abandoned are states that are not disputed for inserting in osm (afaik),
> dismantled and razed are. Personally I’d accept dismantled railways as long
> as there is something, even if it requires additional knowledge or
> experience to understand that what you see is a former railway.
> <https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging>
>


Warin, I hope you haven't done that to any of the dismantled
railways that I've tagged.

They're less than highway=path, but for those with off-trail hiking skills,
the
ditches and embankments are important landmarks in an otherwise
nearly trackless wilderness area. They are field observable to
experienced off-trail hikers, even though I had a buddy say to me
"I'm glad *you* can see it!" once when I used an abandoned way
as a landmark.

One example is http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/183452900,
which I see that another mapper has overlaid with a
highway=footway. (I think he was tagging for the renderer,
but you have to pick your battles.) 'demolished' would be
a better state than 'abandoned' - and I'll let someone else
fix it, because I get all sorts of conflicting advice here and
on the Wiki.

There are also disused railways in my part of the world that
definitely belong on the map. The tracks
are still there, the roadbed is still in reasonable shape, and
it would take only a few days for a crew on speeders to cut the
brush, align the rails and get them in fit shape to haul freight
again.  That actually happened, not too many years ago,
on the Saratoga and North Creek
http://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1401265
when the line was reopened so that NL Industries could
perform environmental remediation at the former mine workings
in Tahawus. I could go on at length about the complicated
political and economic situation, but it's not relevant; the
point is, it was a built railroad, never dismantled, only unmaintained
for some years, and it was brought back into service quickly
once there was again a need for it.

The situation is more complicated with some other rail up there.
The state has apparently made the decision to close
http://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1376439 permanently
north of Old Forge (including the branch line to Saranac
Lakes and Lake Placid)
but demolition work has not yet commenced. Until quite
recently, the rail could support very occasional (perhaps
only a couple of times per year) tourist trains catering to
rail fans. The current plan is to convert the line into a
long-distance "wilderness" cycleway., but it's been sufficiently
controversial that I wouldn't lay long odds that the project
will be executed as planned. In any case, the rail is
still there, and nearly serviceable.

Anything that's disused, abandoned, demolished, ruined,
or repurposed that I've mapped is visible in the field, is likely
of some importance to me for at least way finding, and I
would not take kindly to armchair mappers moving it to
OHM.
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