[Talk-us] Rail tagging in US (and North America): operator=* and reporting_marks=*

[Natfoot]

Sorry I saw your email in the ORM list and responded directly.
I find line segment numbers on track charts and timetables. I mostly work
with lines that have left BNSF or its predecessors so I have line segments
that were assigned by those railroads.  Here is a great list of
line segments of the BNSF/BN/GN/NP Etc.
.
http://www.nprha.org/NP%20Track%20Segments%20of%20BNSF/BNSF%20Track%20Segments%20Version%2010.pdf

I'm on line segments, 403, 405, 408, and 411.
And I don't trust the FRA database to be accurate.

Nathan P
email: natfoot at gmail.com


On Fri, Jun 12, 2020 at 8:45 PM Chuck Sanders <nathhad at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'd love any information you can send regarding any sort of route number
> in use here like you're discussing. I've worked around the US rail industry
> for several decades (federal bridge engineer), and have never heard of such
> a thing, so I'm very curious.
>
> You're not talking about the FRAARCID in the FRA dataset, right?
>
> And I have to say, while "don't tag for the renderer" is almost always
> right, it also doesn't mean that a tag that works well already is
> automatically wrong, provided it also doesn't damage the validity of
> integrity of your dataset, and is consistent with the data scheme.
>
> Thanks!
> Chuck
>
> On Fri, Jun 12, 2020, 10:38 PM Natfoot <natfoot at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Chuck,
>>
>> Thank You for your time fixing the reporting marks section.
>>
>> Railroad Line numbers do exist for railroads in the United States and
>> Canada.
>> Ref= is for the use of line numbers.  I can send you links to line
>> numbers.  Line numbers were given to a line by the railroad when it was
>> laid and often lasts it's entire lifetime, without a change. The other way
>> I see it used is to identify what track number it is: Eg Main 1, or you are
>> in a yard and there is track 1, 2, 3, etc.  Both of these are examples of
>> track numbers.
>>
>>  I will discourage the changing of in use tags for the soul purpose of
>> editing for the renderer.  This is a renderer problem and not a problem
>> with OSM.    Here is the wiki about not editing for the renderer
>> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tagging_for_the_renderer
>>
>>  There is a OpenRailwayMap email list.  I was just there chatting about
>> how Traffic Control is different from Train Protection. I will agree that
>> ORM under represents the data from North America that is already within the
>> map.  Please make these suggestions in the ORM list to make the ORM
>> renderer more usable as you have described.
>>
>> Quote from your email:
>> "  The label is occasionally the spelled out operator name, but most
>> commonly (better than 90% of examples) the operator reporting marks, which
>> serve as a standardized shorthand.  Even the names, as we tag them in the
>> name field, are rarely used to refer to the lines, and are essentially
>> never used on mapping here.They're the absolute last-choice designator, and
>> you *really* have to hunt to find any rail map in the US (including by the
>> operators) that labels any line by name."   " That's the US industry
>> standard."
>>
>>   All of this paragraph are style choices when rendering the data from
>> within OSM. If you would like this to change, talk to the ORM list or make
>> a better renderer. I will reject your assertion that we should dumb down
>> the map just becuase that is the way TOPO had it.  If you are a railroad
>> owner and you are worried about the amount of information on OSM that is a
>> valid argument but that is not the way you are presenting this as of now.
>>
>> Thanks for your thoughts on all of this. I agree that OpenStreetMap, Open
>> Railway Map, and the renderer could be improved to better show off what we
>> have here in North America. Researchers utilize OSM as we have the most up
>> to date railway map in the country of any data source and it is
>> important to maintain standards.  I believe that the wiki pertaining to
>> railway=* is confusing and the addition of continent specific tagging makes
>> it more difficult to understand.  If you would like to help me with
>> cataloging this information this is one of the side projects. But right now
>> I am over on Open Historical Map adding railroads over there.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>>> Nathan P
>>> email: natfoot at gmail.com
>>>
>>
>>
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