Highlighting specific rail lines

[Jon Graback]

How can I highlight and save a specific mainline rail route shown on Google Maps?  I see how to highlight all existing rail lines in a given area using the Browse feature, but how do I highlight just a specific route?

[rjhintz]

When you highlight/select all existing rail lines in a given area, are they called out in the left pane?  If so, the specific one you;re interested in can be selected from there.

--

Rich

[Jon Graback]

Rich, the left pane is not present in "Browse" mode.

[Flash]

Are you asking this as a Maps question, or a Map Maker question?  This is the Map Maker forum, which is the tool for editing the main map visible to everyone.

If you are referring to Map Maker, I think I need more information as to exactly what you are trying to accomplish.

[Jon Graback]

On Tuesday, June 5, 2012 3:36:18 AM UTC-4, Flash wrote:

Are you asking this as a Maps question, or a Map Maker question?  This is the Map Maker forum, which is the tool for editing the main map visible to everyone.

If you are referring to Map Maker, I think I need more information as to exactly what you are trying to accomplish.

 

I'm asking this as a Map Maker question.  In order to highlight a route on a Google Map and save it as a customized map, I'd have to use Map Maker, right?

 

What I'm trying to do is to highlight a specific (existing) rail route (shown on a Google map as a light gray line) that is being upgraded or rebuilt, and then save that customized map so I can refer others to it via a link in an e-mail message.  I've seen this done by at least one other person (in an on-line forum) using a customized Google map that he saved to an on-line file, but I don't know how he did it.  It looked similar to a highlighted road route that Google Maps creates when you ask for driving directions from one place to another - but of course the "Directions" feature doesn't work along a railroad line.

 

I also tried doing this using the "Select a Line" tool in "Edit" mode, but I couldn't get that to highlight the rail line; it just seemed to define points along the line.

[Flash]

Ah, I understand now, thanks :)

I think when someone provided the link in the past, they probably had already done an edit and they were linking to it.

In any case, I'm afraid it is not going to work for a rail line.  You can only select one segment at a time; as you have already discovered the "Select a Line" tool does not work on a railway.  It would be the appropriate tool if it was a road

This is why I never did fix the many error on Vancouver's Skytrain system.

[Jon Graback]

OK, then.  Looks like I'm out of luck with this approach.

 

I just tried using the line drawing tool to draw a new line, tracing over an existng rail line to highlight it with a new, broader colored line.  That sort of works, but it's kind of tedious - especially along curves, which I had to approximate with a series of short, straight lines.  Also, when I get near a road, the drawing tool wants to latch onto the road instead of the rail line.

 

I also have Google Earth installed on my computer (free version 6.0); is there anything there that would work better for this?  The thing is though, I want the resulting custom map to be viewable on-line by anyone with a browser and access to Google Maps (without them having to download and install Google Earth).