Thanks for understanding. Yes, if I understand correctly, you are free to map those abandoned railroads right on buildings or roadways although some mappers don't like it if you put a highway and railway tag on the same way.

I feel your pain on this issue and truly appreciate your dedication (with the hashtag #CloseTheNotes.) There are times when I've deleted abandoned railroads that are totally and completely gone in all senses (the lines were just there for someone to remember where they were went.) In that case, I think there is a case for deleting them, and Russ is free to disagree with me here (good forum topic) but if someone like him actually surveyed the old trackbed and found evidence somehow in a building footprint or whatever, then I'd leave that one. You can always comment on the original changeset and see if the user would be amenable to a compromise. No one is right 100% of the time.

Kindly,  
Elliott