OpenGeofiction
Should draw 2 tram tracks next to each other be drawn as one? On OSM they’re usually drawn separately and in the OSM wiki it says “In some places each tram tracks is mapped separately and in some places two tracks are together mapped as a single railway=tram line.”
So, what is more convenient in your opinion?
Discussion
Comment from Leowezy on 10 November 2015 at 18:22
In Jaka, a city which is supposed to have a quite elaborate tram network, I draw the tracks seperately; it renders rather well, intersections can be mapped more accurately, and at stops where you have an island platform you would need to split the tracks either way. Another example in Jaka would be where the tracks for each direction are going through two seperate parallel streets for a little while, because the old streets would be to narrow for two trains and other vehicles/pedestrians at the same time.
I don’t really see a downside of mapping trams alaways with two seperate tracks, but I guess it depends on what your network looks like in detail. Underground metros, for example, I usually map with one path representing one line, and tag it with “tracks=2”.
Comment from joschi81 on 10 November 2015 at 18:30
It’s all a question about up to which level of detail you want to draw. In many places, I draw a single line first and when I reach the respective level of detail for an area, I switch to 2 parallel lines. See here: Mahnern-Thermette interurban tramway line
Comment from tule00 on 10 November 2015 at 22:10
I tried drawing them separately and, in my opinion, it looks very realistic and satisfying.
Comment from histor on 11 November 2015 at 01:49
In the first steps I draw a single line for the tram (see in the cities of Cordoba, Guvullion, Mar y Flora and Van Pelt - all in Latina or Aaby in Zylanda). In Gentofte (Latina) I start to draw always two tracks - and it looks much better and more realistic.
Also to draw both tracks is better to handle the stops at great places or if the streetcar runs with one track through different small strees in only one direction.
A problem of rendering I see only if two tramway-tracks run along a street without a middle-stripe.
Comment from stennes on 11 November 2015 at 13:49
I have also a question about the tram. It seems like on the map that on bridges, it gets a space between the connected lines. Why so? :/
Comment from histor on 11 November 2015 at 22:15
This gap is not only at bridges, but at tunnels too. At zoom 18 then there is a line without gap. Seemed to be a rendering problem at different levels.
Comment from histor on 11 November 2015 at 22:25
If you let run the tramline over the bridge without a layer changing, you had no gap. In this case the toad or rail under the bridge must become layer = -1
See http://opengeofiction.net/#map=15/-13.1058/42.284