[HN Gopher] Worldwide Rail Network Map
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       Worldwide Rail Network Map
        
       Author : stereo
       Score  : 94 points
       Date   : 2022-09-14 18:17 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.openrailwaymap.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.openrailwaymap.org)
        
       | harry-wood wrote:
       | There's another site called https://openstationmap.org/ which
       | shows some details within train stations in a fun 3D way, letting
       | you flip through the "levels" data (Again, all data from
       | OpenStreetMap). I feel like these two could combine nicely
       | somehow.
        
         | mqus wrote:
         | I didn't know that site, thanks! But I have to note that those
         | stations are missing pretty basic and crucial information like
         | platform numbers. I probably won't be using those maps anytime
         | soon.
        
       | jabroni_salad wrote:
       | huh, so there is a line between des moines and minneapolis. Just
       | no passenger service :(
        
         | eherot wrote:
         | You will find this to be a common theme across most of the
         | country
        
       | abbusfoflouotne wrote:
       | Lived in Barcelona for two summers, loved going back over the
       | metro lines (one of the best things about the city imho) and
       | looking at all my favorite places. Excellent detail!!
        
       | mempko wrote:
       | China is impressive. USA not so much...
        
       | stereo wrote:
       | A detailed map of the world's railway infrastructure, built on
       | OpenStreetMap data.
        
       | always2slow wrote:
       | Is there anything like this but for fiber optic?
        
         | nerdkid93 wrote:
         | There's this, but it doesn't appear to be fully complete:
         | https://www.infrapedia.com/app
        
       | lmm wrote:
       | For a "network map" I'd hope to have something that showed which
       | routes services ran on. An international version of that would be
       | really cool.
        
         | mqus wrote:
         | data-wise this could be possible. I know at least in Germany,
         | there is also data in OSM about each line and which tracks they
         | are using.
        
       | qwezxcrty wrote:
       | A bit confusing as it somehow includes metro lines in China that
       | are still in construction or even only planned, and it seem there
       | is no way to filter them out.
        
         | harry-wood wrote:
         | If you can pinpoint the data in OpenStreetMap we could try to
         | figure out if this is something wrong in the map data (Anyone
         | can fix it!), or maybe it's a tag they should be filtering out
         | on the OpenRailwayMap rendering.
        
           | qwezxcrty wrote:
           | Hmmm, the specific case I was looking at is the North
           | extension of Nanchang Metro Line 1 to Chang Bei Ji Chang .
           | Which doesn't exist yet.
           | 
           | I'll also have a look myself tomorrow.
        
       | bill38 wrote:
       | Corsica railway is missing :(
       | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemins_de_fer_de_la_Corse
        
         | jumelles wrote:
         | Zoom in
        
       | whydoyoucare wrote:
       | Great stuff! I tried zooming in to some of the dense Indian
       | railway networks and surprisingly it has a very good amount of
       | detail.
        
         | kposehn wrote:
         | I was curious how accurate it is for India. Such an amazingly
         | dense and intricate rail network.
        
           | lephty wrote:
           | Pretty accurate, actually. Even has details of the several
           | recently built city metro rail systems.
        
       | 11thEarlOfMar wrote:
       | Almost on topic...
       | 
       | When we were kids, my brother studied a railroad atlas any time
       | he wasn't in school or church. This thing was a monster, large
       | book with hundreds of pages of maps. Literally county by county
       | across the Unites States, all railroad lines and yards. I'd go to
       | sleep Friday night while he sat in an overstuffed chair,
       | studying. I'd wake up at 7:30 AM Saturday... he hadn't moved.
       | Still there, a few pages further into the atlas.
       | 
       | As an adult, he worked for the Illinois Central as a hump yard
       | operator. Later the Iowa Pacific, and ultimately found himself
       | doing customer service for a small line in Texas, mainly shipping
       | sand. His job frequently included finding 'lost' cars somewhere
       | in the US, on any line that happened to be in that car's route.
       | He was really good at it.
       | 
       | One notable call had him searching railroad yards in Missouri. He
       | had a strong hunch that the misplaced car was on a spur where
       | that yard stored cars that had lost their way. But he needed to
       | confirm. He could have called that yard, but getting the right
       | person to check logs or go hunt was always a hassle. So... He
       | Googled up the yard, zoomed in on the spur and noted that Google
       | helpfully displayed several businesses in a strip mall backed up
       | to the spur. He dialed up 'Patty's Nail Salon' and the call went
       | something like: "Hi Patty, this is Craig with the Iowa Pacific.
       | I'm tracking down a misplaced car and I have reason to believe it
       | is sitting on the spur outside your back window. Would you mind
       | checking for a car with ID 123876?"
       | 
       | Extended pause....
       | 
       | "I'll be right back!"
       | 
       | Sure enough, there is was.
        
         | quarterdime wrote:
         | Is your brother still in the industry? If so, what are his
         | thoughts about the current working conditions and the possible
         | strike beginning Friday?
        
         | nonethewiser wrote:
         | What exactly was he studying? What you describe is pretty
         | intense and sounds more involved than looking with intrigue.
         | 
         | Was he memorizing names? Routes? Charting different paths?
        
           | 11thEarlOfMar wrote:
           | Yes. We used to drive cross-country twice a year. Any time,
           | day or night, if we encountered a rail line, he knew what
           | rail line it was, what town was upline to the left and what
           | town was upline to the right. He literally memorized that
           | atlas.
        
             | Eleison23 wrote:
             | I'm glad that he was able to parlay a childhood hobby into
             | gainful employment.
             | 
             | I had a lot of childhood hobbies that didn't pan out so
             | well. For example, I used to memorize scientific names of
             | insects and other creepy-crawlies. Mostly I did this
             | because I wanted to learn more Latin and they weren't
             | teaching it in Catholic school. Also my father, a
             | geologist, worked with a full-time entomologist in his
             | office.
             | 
             | My parents allowed me more or less free hand in self-
             | determination of hobbies and recreational activities, and
             | this was detrimental to my growth and work ethic. If you're
             | a parent, make sure that your children's activities are
             | focused and directed to some meaningful end. Also ensure
             | that they are properly motivated, encouraged, and supported
             | in constructive things. This is the best way to form
             | children who are good workers with interesting careers.
        
       | neogodless wrote:
       | Some historical discussions:
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15965912 (Dec 20, 2017) 58
       | comments
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29950286 (Jan 15, 2022) 15
       | comments
        
       | sdoering wrote:
       | Not far from the place where I live there is a small railroad in
       | an old bog. It is not connected to any major railroad line. Just
       | a tourist attraction. And available in the map. I am thrilled.
        
         | jumelles wrote:
         | Powered by OpenStreetMap!
        
       | detritus wrote:
       | Crikey, the Beeching review really did change Britain's rail
       | infrastructure... .
        
       | kposehn wrote:
       | Always love this when it comes up on HN. There are some
       | inaccuracies that only a total train nerd such as myself would
       | find (or care about) but those do nothing to detract from how
       | good it is :)
        
         | timeon wrote:
         | Could those inaccuracies be edited through OpenStreetMap?
        
           | playingalong wrote:
           | Yes. ORWM takes directly from OSM
        
         | jumelles wrote:
         | Fix them! https://www.openstreetmap.org/
        
       | el_don_almighty wrote:
       | This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time. I
       | can't believe the time I've wasted looking at all the old rail
       | lines and where they go from the places I've lived.
       | 
       | Many thanks to the team
        
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       (page generated 2022-09-14 23:00 UTC)