Hello, everyone!
It’s the first weekend in March, and that means it’s time for a new monthly challenge! The results of last month’s challenge, Healthcare, was wonderful. I saw a lot of people posting in the comments, in blikis, and elsewhere about all the fascinating health-related places they’ve mapped. Awesome work, everyone. On a personal note, I’d like to thank everyone for their well-wishes and heart-felt comments. I am recovering quite nicely, and I’m grateful to you for your kind words.
This month’s challenge is going to be a bit different, because it involves a partnership with the user Eklas, affectionately known around these parts as “George.” George publishes a weekly bliki and has decided to do a four-week tutorial through the month of March about mapping rails. He was gracious enough to let me merge the challenge into it. The hope is that we all can learn something about rail mapping to make our countries look more realistic.
The four topics that will grace the Eklas-bliki will be (links forthcoming):
There are two tiers to this challenge: beginner–intermediate and advanced. The beginner–intermediate level is intended for either those with no knowledge of rail or those with only moderate levels of rail infrastructure. The advanced challenge is intended for those with a very high level of railway knowledge and designed to better the site over-all.
As part of a super-advanced challenge (that everyone can participate in), we are going to do a community-driven effort to improve the making railways wiki page.
Each user on OGF should determine how much rail works for them and within their country. There are a lot of factors that play into rail usage. Terrain is the most obvious, as rail becomes more of an impossibility as terrain is rougher. Mountainous terrains require some very creative engineering. But, density of people and commercial goods also plays in. Dense cities typically rely on rail as a part of their transit network. In much of northern and central Europe, rail is a way of life for passengers and commuters. Countries without large cities or less dense population centers may not see this. Economics are also a factor. Developing nations may not have as much rail, just as they may not have major highways. Large countries with great distances to traverse between resources and ports will use rail more for commercial and industrial uses. North America’s rails are primarily used to transport goods and raw materials. Passenger rail there is almost exclusively found in dense urban environments, especially along the Atlantic coast. Small island nations like this are probably not going to need rail as an essential means of transportation. On Malta, for example, rail is essentially non-existent. The culture, history, and economics of a country will determine how the rail system develops.
Lastly, users on OGF have a wide variety of interests. George (Eklas), for one, is fascinated with rail. Others are not. Some, such as myself, see it as one tool of many. There are a variety of reasons for this. Some people live in countries like the UK or Germany, where rail is a primary means of personal transportation. More rail exists here per capita than anywhere else on the globe. Others live in places like the US or Canada, where it is essential for cargo and not as much for people. This all shapes how each of us views the need for rail. Let’s please respect each other’s culture and views.
Now, let’s get mapping! Good luck, everyone!
Comment from histor on 4 March 2018 at 22:44
A good idea for a challenge. In Latina the railway plays an important role - but to learn and to make it better you ever can.
Malta: There has been a railway. Some years ago (and til now?) too the road along the old trackbed was named “Trig il Ferrovija al quawra” - today only with “Ferrovija” (italian word in maltese-arabic language) [https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/35.89294/14.47722]
Comment from Alessa on 5 March 2018 at 00:27
Thanks, Histor. I hope that all of us can improve our rail mapping.
In Malta, yes, there was a railway that went from Rabat to Valletta. The British blasted it through in the 1880s (destroying part of the Domus Romana in the process), but it shut down around 1930. The street you mention (Triq il-Ferrovija) is one of quite a few that takes up the old track bed. A single train car still exists in Birkirkara, as does the original station there. There’s a few other relics out there, like the tunnel out of Valletta, which you can see from the top of the ramparts.
Comment from histor on 5 March 2018 at 08:56
I think, at this occassion we can divide the tutorial-side in * making realistic railways * making realistic metro- or subway-lines
Comment from eklas on 5 March 2018 at 21:10
Hi folks! Thanks Alessa, for the lovely introduction. The first part of the railway tutorial is now up: (link)
Also @histor, I feel like there is much more that could be done to the railway tutorial than just splitting it in two. At the end of the month, I would like to take the most important parts of my bliki series and rewrite the tutorial in a more comprehensible, structural way.
Anyways, awesome! Let’s draw railways!
Comment from zhenkang on 6 March 2018 at 02:39
I also like railways too! The old Singkangia does not have a coherent railway system, so I am doing a whole new system in new Singkangia. I will of coutse start from the beginning, by connecting the towns which I have managed to move.
