I have reverted this changeset because of the aforementioned issues - If you are interested in historical railway mapping I encourage you to check out OHM ( https://www.openhistoricalmap.org ) and their recent discussions about a potential railway-centric layer ( https://forum.openhistoricalmap.org/t/what-should-a-rail-centric-ohm-layer-look-like/76/10 )

https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/145219403