[OSM-talk] highway=unsurfaced

[Lars Aronsson]

Nick Whitelegg wrote:

> A track is gravel or dirt and is normally wider than about 3 
> feet, say 6feet, it normally has evidence of "rutting" caused by 
> motor traffic.

But a track, as used in English, is also a railroad track and a 
track on a gramophone record.  Trying to base any defintion on an 
implicit understanding of the word "track" is a big mistake, 
because we don't share such an understanding.

I think what most Englishmen understand with a "track" would in 
Swedish be called a "traktorväg" (tractor road) or "skogsväg" 
(forrest road).  These are things in the wilderness where walking 
or riding a horse is very easy (easier than a path), and driving a 
Landrover is OK but bumpy, but you wouldn't want to drive a normal 
car, for fear of getting stuck.  There are two wheel tracks (there 
is that word again), but there is grass in between them.

On Swedish maps (Gröna kartan, topografisk karta, scale 1:50000), 
paths are thin dashed lines and tractor roads are thick dashed 
lines, whereas the smallest automobile roads are thin, contiguous 
(non-dashed) lines.


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se