If I had a dime for every "plan" I've seen that was little more than a scribble on a napkin, which later became some kind of political project that turned out badly for lack of real planning or because it furthered some other political ambitions, I'd be retired in a much nicer place than I am now, and would have done it much earlier. Yes, CAHSR is one of those. Scribble on a napkin is fine, if it is then given to a professional and professionally analyzed and fleshed out, and in the process proves to be feasible to build and beneficial. Ballot-oriented napkin-plans usually don't get that.

Railroads have their share of napkin-sketch ideas. Possibly because they're in business to make money, few of those actually appear on the ground, at least in recent history. Earlier, yes, when railroads were the dot-com of their day and almost anything with the word railroad in it could get money thrown at it. Most of those "sketchy" lines are gone.