[OSM-talk] Request for Romano-British features

Russ Nelson nelson at crynwr.com
Sat Jan 14 08:14:48 GMT 2012


mick writes:
 > On Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:40:13 -0500
 > Russ Nelson <nelson at crynwr.com> wrote:
 > 
 > > So in this particular context, as long as there is still evidence of
 > > the Roman road, even if the road no longer exists as a right-of-way,
 > > it makes sense to add it to OSM.

 > Much Of what I am working on remains only of short stretches, if
 > visible, then only as regular lumps in the ground, more often it is
 > reflected by sections of parish boundaries, fence lines or lines of
 > trees and can only be verified by archaeological digs that could
 > little more than than the foundation trench of up to an almost
 > complete road surface.

My point is that there is evidence of a road which, if you connect the
dots, can point to the discovery of more evidence. I know of several
patches of asphalt which are 8' wide. Why? Well, because a railroad
used to cross the highway there, and they pulled the tracks out at
some point.

If you don't put this information into the OSM database, how are
people going to find the evidence on the ground that YOU haven't
found?

I know of a place where two railroads crossed at 90 degrees. One of
the railroads is now completely gone. But if you look at the rails,
you can see two short sections of rail where they pulled the crossing
out. How would anybody understand that unless the data is there in OSM
for them to find? http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/node/837172596

Or there's a chunk of rail here:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/node/1129169766 but if I don't map
the whole Tracy Street Industrial Track, who would know that those
rails used to connect to these rails? 
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/way/133977164 Or why is this
bridge not rectangular?
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/way/97522958 Or this bridge?
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/way/93159517 Or this bridge? 
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/way/122087653 In all of these
cases, you have a bridge which obviously ought to have parallel sides,
but it doesn't. Unless I had put the abandoned railroad line into OSM,
how would you know why?

-- 
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