[Talk-us] railway=abandoned and mapping things that are not there any more?

[Mike N]

On 7/13/2012 8:45 AM, Peter Dobratz wrote:
> That is the exact point being discussed.  Why are we singling out
> railways as a feature that essentially never goes away entirely even
> though areas have been completely redeveloped?

   Abandoned railways are subject to accidental deletion by newbies who 
have surveyed the area and know that there is no railway there.  Maybe 
they didn't study the wiki to know that a 0.5" depression in the ground 
or a plaque on the wall qualifies the presence in OSM.   This is much 
the same way I delete xyz(historical) GNIS objects today- they simply 
aren't there.

   This would seem to be much more suited to the oft-discussed 
historical OSM database.  In that way, the old tracks would be 
completely represented, not cut off where the bulldozer has come in and 
constructed a shopping center.