>>1494300When you think about these kinds of RRs, it's important to think of them in context of the past and not the modern present.
For example, the "big" stops as shown all had absolutely miniscule populations, even into the 30s, except for Pontiac. Lots of those lines probably had no more than ten or twenty thou people living within distance, and most of them were farmers who had no use for the train in the first place.
There was a very brief period where the train was a serviceable option helping people get to and from, but that was certainly no longer than a decade or so. I bet a lot of these lines never even made their money back after being built.
I love the concept but the abject failure makes it hard for me to romanticize.
