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

[Nathan Edgars II]

On 7/13/2012 11:28 AM, william skora wrote:
> Although historical features such as abandoned railways can be
> valuable information and interesting, OSM is a consists of physical
> features that currently exist, as Shawn succinctly stated,
> http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-us/2012-July/008563.html

That's simply not true; OSM has included abandoned railways, even where 
no traces remain, since before I joined. (I'm not talking about the 
TIGER import, but actual railways mapped by people.)
>
> Historical items that no longer have a physical presence (like railway
> lines) would be better suited to a separate entity that focuses on
> historical ways.

This would be a great duplication of work, since at least 80-90% of 
former railways still do have traces.