[OSM-talk] razed railways and other things that don't exist today

[stevea]

On Oct 25, 2022, at 12:42 AM, Warin <61sundowner at gmail.com> wrote:
a
> Question:
about mapping of old railway infrastructure.

Without "meaning to be mean," I say "oh, no, not again!"  I say it like that because OSM has had this discussion many, many times.

I'll be relatively brief here and have at it with a short version, one more time.  OSM maps old railway infrastructure because it has very long-lasting effects on the land, affecting landuse, transportation patterns and more for decades, sometimes for centuries.  OSM (and OHM, OpenHistoricalMap, considered by some a "sibling project" of OSM) map(s) these, and OSM documents [1] (even with several pictures) that we do, saying "mapping such features is acceptable where some (of the infrastructure) remains."  Yes, there remains some controversy, the wiki goes to some length to explain what this is, what is a borderline case, etc.  But this is a topic which has been thoroughly discussed, even as it remains being discussed to this day.

Regarding other things which "don't exist today" which are NOT railways, well, those are a separate topic (from railways).

There:  "I didn't fix it..." but I hope that helps.

[1] https://wiki.osm.org/wiki/Demolished_Railway#What_is_sufficient_to_map_a_former_railway