[Talk-us] Rail westerly

[Mike Henson]

Steve,
I agree with Charlotte, In Oklahoma I am seeing a lot of different names on
one rail road line like Charlotte is talking about.

Mike


On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 2:36 PM, Charlotte Wolter <techlady at techlady.com>
wrote:

>  Steve,
>
>         Yes, any explanation of the difference between "main" and
> "branch" lines and "owner" is appreciated. I find myself rather confused at
> the moment.
>         For instance, why does the BNSF line across Arizona and into New
> Mexico change to "Gallup Subdivision" at one point to the west of the city
> of Gallup? It seems to be still the BNSF main line. Further, other
> "subdivisions," such as the Springerville (Ariz.) Subdivision, clearly seem
> to be branches. So, when is a line a subdivision?
>         If I get a handle on this and other distinctions, I can make
> corrections (or explanations) ... I think.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Charlotte
>
>
> At 11:17 AM 12/29/2014, you wrote:
>
> Hello Nathan, Tod, Alexander, Minh and Charlotte:
>
> Thank you for responding to my talk-us posts about rail.  I'm having
> multiple conversations about this, to a large extent with Alexander Jones,
> as he is emerging as a local "expert" (well, "more experienced") w.r.t.
> rail in OSM.  Especially with how it renders with ORM.  There are many good
> resources (public, and compatible with OSM's ODBL) to use, both in
> California (and perhaps YOUR state!) and federally.  For the latter,
> Alexander recommends
> http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/publicsite/crossing/xingqryloc.aspx
> .  He also has (and has sent to me, please ask him) an excellent
> spreadsheet which flatten/simplify what might be called a good first cut at
> a branching structure.
>
> I have also found truly complete, excellent (down to signals, etc.) rail
> maps on "rail fan" sites.  These essentially give us all we need (one was
> in .kmz format, which JOSM simply read and could almost be "imported"
> directly into OSM).  However, they are specifically copyrighted and not
> compatible with OSM's ODBL, alas I almost feel I cannot even continue to
> view such documentation, lest it "pollute" OSM with copyrighted data
> (similar to looking at Google Maps, which I strenuously avoid!)  What this
> means is that "the data are out there" and that dedicated persons can
> compile them with research and patience.  So, OSM volunteers can do this,
> but it WILL be a LOT of work.
>
> I agree with Nathan that usage=main and usage=branch can be quite tricky
> to "know" how to tag, and that there appears to be an essentially
> subjective interpretation about which tag (if any of these) is appropriate
> for any given line.  I am in the process of writing a "ten day review" post
> to talk-us about this, which I will post after I send all of you this email.
>
> USA rail in OSM is a large subject to tackle, which will take a great deal
> of effort by many.  The essential step of better understanding, agreeing
> amongst ourselves and harmonizing all of the tagging necessarily comes
> first.  I propose a new WikiProject, but I do not have the bandwidth to do
> this all by myself, as I remain busy with our USBRS WikiProject.
>
> To address MInh's question about Cincinnati, CNO&TP and NS, I'd say that
> "owner=City of Cincinnati" is correct, and "operator=NS" and "name=CNO&TP"
> capture it accurately.  But this is just one of many examples of how
> difficult these often complex leasing/ownership/operator arrangements can
> be with rail.
>
> In short, I am interested in continuing this, but with limits to my
> abilities to do so.  I invite all of you to please stay in touch with me
> and each other about this if you like, and even to "recruit" other OSM
> volunteers to better coordinate what might become a more formal effort,
> whether in California, another state or region, or over the whole of the
> USA.  And if anybody starts a WikiProject for USA rail, I'd be thrilled!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve All
> Santa Cruz, California
>
>  Charlotte Wolter
> 927 18th Street Suite A
> Santa Monica, California
> 90403
> +1-310-597-4040
> techlady at techlady.com
> Skype: thetechlady
>
>
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>
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