Metadata for Montana Railroads from the 1:100,0000 Scale National Rail Network, 2003 Metadata for Montana Railroads from the 1:100,0000 Scale National Rail Network, 2003

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Identification Information:

Citation:

Originator: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
Originator: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Publication date: 2003
Title:: Montana Railroads from the 1:100,0000 Scale National Rail Network, 2003
Other citation details:: The former name of the data set on the NRIS web site was "rail2003"
Online linkage: https://ftpgeoinfo.msl.mt.gov/Data/Spatial/NonMSDI/Shapefiles/Railroad2003.zip

Browse graphic file name: https://ftpgeoinfo.msl.mt.gov/Documents/Maps/Thumbnails/20030101_32_thumb.jpg
Browse graphic file description: Thumbnail image of Montana Railroads map

Browse graphic file name: https://ftpgeoinfo.msl.mt.gov/Documents/Maps/Individual/20030101_32_rail2003.gif
Browse graphic file description: Montana Railroads map

Abstract:

This is a slightly modified version of the National Rail Network data for Montana. A field has been added to the attribute table for the full name of the current owner, empty fields have been deleted, and the data has been converted to Montana State Plane Coordinates. Some of the metadata has been modified slightly from the original provided by BTS.

Upon inspection of the data, it appears that features representing abandoned railroads are not very accurately located. Some of these features were observed to be more than 200 meters from their correct locations. Railroads that still exist on the ground were rarely observed to be more than 30 meters from their correct locations.

The Rail Network is a comprehensive database of the nation's railway system at the 1:100,000 scale. The data set covers the 48 contiguous States plus the District of Columbia.

The data was downloaded from http://www.bts.gov/programs/geographic_information_services/download_sites/ntad02/statedownloadform.html. The current website is: https://railroads.dot.gov/rail-network-development/maps-and-data/maps-geographic-information-system/maps-geographic

Purpose:

The data set provides location and partial attribute information for use in national and regional network analysis applications.

Time period of content:

Calendar date: 2003
Currentness reference: publication date

Status:

Progress: Complete

Access constraints: None

Use constraints:

Acknowledgment of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Bureau Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Transportation Atlas Databases (NTAD) would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

The Montana State Library provides this product/service for informational purposes only. The Library did not produce it for, nor is it suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Consumers of this information should review or consult the primary data and information sources to ascertain the viability of the information for their purposes. The Library provides these data in good faith but does not represent or warrant its accuracy, adequacy, or completeness. In no event shall the Library be liable for any incorrect results or analysis; any direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages to any party; or any lost profits arising out of or in connection with the use or the inability to use the data or the services provided. The Library makes these data and services available as a convenience to the public, and for no other purpose. The Library reserves the right to change or revise published data and/or services at any time.

Point of contact:

Montana State Library
P.O. Box 201800
Helena, Montana 59620-1800
Telephone: 406-444-5354
TDD/TTY telephone: Montana Relay 711
Fax: 406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov

Point of contact:

U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
FRA - Mailstop 15
1120 Vermont Avenue
Washington, District of Columbia 20590
Telephone: 202-493-6396
Fax: 202-493-6401
E-Mail: answers@bts.gov

Data set credit:

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) develops and maintains the rail network geospatial data layer. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) compiled and formatted the data for release on the National Transportation Atlas Databases (NTAD) 2003.

Data Quality Information:

Attribute accuracy report:

The railroad ownership field is complete to approximately mid-2000. The FRA reports the following fields as incomplete: Signals Density Code Military Flag - applied only in some states, Abandonment Year. Also, the FRA reports that as many nodes as possible have been identified with a name. There are likely more that are not easily identified. Many nodes in the 1:100,000 scale rail network are 'mapped' to a node in the 1:2,000,000 scale rail network.

Special note concerning trackage rights: In some cases, a 'short line' railroad may operate on its larger railroad connection(s) as its billing railroad. For example, the larger railroad(s) treat traffic originating or terminating on the short line as if it were originating or terminating its own line; perform the billing, car reporting, and car tracking; then share the revenue with the short line. These trackage rights may exist as four, five, or six in the sequence, while one and two remain empty.

Logical consistency report:

The network is not topologically connected. There should be no redundancy of lines or nodes in the data set. The data set is geographically accurate at the 1:100,000 scale.

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Report:

The horizontal accuracy for these data can be stated as being that associated with data compiled at the 1:100,000 scale.

Lineage:

Source information:

Originator: U.S. Bureau of the Census (BOC)
Publication date: 1995
Title: TIGER/Line files
Source contribution: Spatial information for rail network.

Process step:

This geospatial data layer was compiled and reviewed by BTS in April 2003.


Process date: 04/2003

Spatial Data Organization Information:

Point and vector object information:

SDTS object type: String

SDTS object count: 166719

Spatial Reference Information:

Horizontal coordinate system definition:

Grid coordinate system name: State Plane Coordinate System

SPCS zone identifier: 2500

Lambert conformal conic:

Standard parallel: 45.000000
Standard parallel: 49.000000
Longitude of central meridian: -109.500000
Latitude of projection origin: 44.250000
False easting: 600000.000000
False northing: 0.000000

Planar distance units: meters

Geodetic model:

Horizontal datum name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major axis: 6378137
Denominator of flattening ratio: 298.257

Entity and Attribute Information:

Entity type label: Railroad2003.dbf

Attribute label: FID

Attribute definition: Shapefile sequence number

Attribute label: Shape

Attribute definition: Coordinates defining the features

Attribute label: LENGTH

Attribute definition: Length of feature in meters

Attribute label: ID

Attribute definition: Link ID in the network structure

Attribute label: FRAID

Attribute definition: The link ID in the network structure

Attribute label: NET

Attribute definition: Use status

Attribute label: RROWNER1

Attribute definition: The reporting mark of the owning railroad

Attribute label: OWNER

Attribute definition: Full name of the owning railroad (from RROWNER1 code)

Attribute label: TR1

Attribute definition: Reporting mark of the 1st railroad having trackage rights

Attribute label: TR2

Attribute definition:: Reporting mark of additional railroad having trackage rights.
Attribute domain: See TR1 for possible values.

Attribute label: TR3

Attribute definition:: Reporting mark of additional railroad having trackage rights.
Attribute domain: See TR1 for possible values.

Attribute label: TR4

Attribute definition:: Reporting mark of additional railroad having trackage rights.
Attribute domain: See TR1 for possible values.

Attribute label: TR5

Attribute definition:: Reporting mark of additional railroad having trackage rights.
Attribute domain: See TR1 for possible values.

Attribute label: PREVRR1

Attribute definition: Reporting mark of the last carrier to own/operate the line
Attribute domain: See TR1 for possible values.

Attribute label: PREVRR2

Attribute definition:: The reporting mark of the carrier owning the line in the near post-WWII period. If the current owner or subsidiary road owned the line, the mark is not repeated.
Attribute domain: See TR1 for possible values.

Attribute label: ABANDONED

Attribute definition: Abandoned flag

Attribute label: PASS

Attribute definition: Type of passenger rail flag

Attribute label: MILITARY

Attribute definition:: Type of military interest flag - this code should match the publication 'Civil Rail Lines Important to 'National Defense, December 1998'

Attribute label: STATE