[Talk-us] Rail westerly

[Alexander Jones]

stevea wrote:

> I'm beginning to channel California rail, especially mainline,
> branch, naming operators and owners and having routes be well
> established as relations.
> 
> I use openrailwaymap.org to do this.  The USA could use some, ahem,
> tuning up.  Much work ahead.
> 

So, that's you? I've spent the past year-plus remapping rail lines in the 
Central Valley. Right now, I'm finishing up the BNSF Mojave Subdivision 
towards Barstow. A few tips:

* Please use the subdivision name where available. Using the railroad as the 
name is redundant when the operator tag is set. I use the CPUC rail crossing 
data [1] to find subdivision names.
* I'm in the process of retracing most of the current and abandoned lines in 
the San Joaquin Valley south of Stockton. Especially on the BNSF line, don't 
waste your time.
* The way I see it, passenger lines are not automatically usage=main. But I 
don't know of any passenger lines in California, except the Sprinter in 
North SD County, that couldn't be seen as main lines.

I generally use 7 tags: railway=rail, operator=, old_railway_operator=, 
name=, usage=, electrified=, and gauge=.

I still use old-fashioned (according to OpenRailwayMap) route=railway 
relations for the tracks. I don't think the relations are rendered, but I'm 
not completely sure. But I keep the IDs in the org-mode files I use to 
manage my work, so I could always switch the tag out if needed.

Overall, this is much needed work. Thanks for helping the rail quality in 
California!

Alexander

[1] http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/safety/Rail/Crossings/crossinginventory.htm