Changeset: 125292779
Corrected Raritan Valley line from branch type to Main type from Aldene connection to Bound Brook
Closed by 54324288
Tags
changesets_count | 6 |
---|---|
created_by | iD 2.21.1 |
host | https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit |
ideditor:walkthrough_completed | yes |
ideditor:walkthrough_progress | welcome;navigation;point;area;line;building;startEditing |
ideditor:walkthrough_started | yes |
imagery_used | Mapbox Satellite |
locale | en |
Discussion
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Comment from clay_c
Hi 54324288,
How come the Raritan Valley Line was changed to usage=main here? This line dead-ends in High Bridge, and it only carries suburban passenger trains and local freight trains. Shouldn't it have remained usage=branch?
-Clay
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Comment from 54324288
Clay,
May you clarify the technical qualifications for a line to be main vs branch? From what I know, this was the CNJ mainline from the mid 19th century through to ~1976, then the mainline of Conrail's CNJ division until 1983, when NJTransit purchased the line, where it was renamed the Raritan Valley Line. What did the line lose for it to become a branch, rather than stay a mainline?
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Comment from clay_c
What this line 'lost' was the track west of High Bridge, severing that end of the old main line and turning it into a branch. It may have been a main line in its heyday, but it no longer performs that function.
On OSM, we classify main tracks into usage=main, usage=branch or usage=industrial based on their relationship to the broader railway network. usage=main supports mostly through trains (e.g. yard-to-yard freight trains or intercity trains that skip many stops), and usage=branch only supports local trains (e.g. suburban passenger trains or freight trains that deliver to customers along the line).
There are usage=main lines out there in the US that dead-end, but in most cases that means there's a sizeable freight yard or intermodal port facilities ready to handle all the through trains. High Bridge is a suburban town—I wouldn't expect it to be a destination for through trains.
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Comment from 54324288
Would you agree then that if the line were to be reactivated to Allentown or Easton as per the Amtrak master plan that the line would be considered usage:main?
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Comment from 54324288
Moreover, there are of course other lines that don't strictly fit into this destination. LIC <-> Greenport was once the LIRR mainline, but nowadays would be more likely described as usage:branch. LIC<-> Montauk has more of a case as an intercity line but suffers from the same ambiguity.
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Comment from clay_c
It's true, the distinction between usage=main and usage=branch isn't clear and can sometimes be subjective. Long Island is a case of terminal topography, so it makes sense that a main line might dead-end on the eastern tip of the island. But if you look a map that renders usage=*, like OpenRailwayMap, the Raritan Valley Line is overshadowed by the Lehigh Line which still forms a connective mainline.
I do agree that usage=main may be appropriate if and when the line gets reactivated to Easton/Allentown. Until then, though, it looks out-of-place in relation to other tracks with usage=main.
- Raritan Valley Line (1088640892), v1
- Raritan Valley Line (1088640893), v1
- Raritan Valley Line (11783920), v13
- Aldene Connecting Track (11783985), v12
- Raritan Valley Line (48066442), v11
- Raritan Valley Line (48066445), v10
- Raritan Valley Line (51538397), v10
- Raritan Valley Line (51538398), v10
- Raritan Valley Line (51538476), v9
- Raritan Valley Line (51538477), v11
- Raritan Valley Line (51538798), v11
- Raritan Valley Line (51538799), v9
- Raritan Valley Line (51538800), v11
- Raritan Valley Line (51538803), v10
- Raritan Valley Line (51538804), v12
- Raritan Valley Line (51538813), v10
- Raritan Valley Line (51538815), v10
- Raritan Valley Line (72048530), v10
- Raritan Valley Line (202665789), v13
- Raritan Valley Line (229281222), v6
Relations (2)
- NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line: Newark <=> High Bridge (1122386), v75
- Main Line (Central Railroad of New Jersey) (1384358), v53
Nodes (3)
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