I didn't add new abandoned lines, I added primarly start_dates. The few abandoned ways i've added only close minor gaps within the old route, and are tagged as "razed" - this means "gone without traces", so no wrong tagging.

"These should be removed from OSM since they no longer exist" - 
I don't think so. Here are my reasons: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:Hiausirg/Razed_RRs
"isn't permitted on OSM"
It is. There is a guideline which discourages it, but guideline =/= rule. And there are a LOT of reasons to map them like I did - they speak stronger than this guide (IMO).

"Where did you get the start dates for these items?"
From Wikipedia. A single fact from a text is certainly not copyrightable.

"Additionally, I suspect this was an import"
??? Import of what?

There are many locations like https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit#map=17/28.18454/-82.72033 where traces are obviously visible, yet you deleted them anyway. Therefore, I reverted your changeset.
(and stop blaming my manual review as bad or even as a lie, your's certainly not better)