"Rails to Trails" has such a nice ring to it, but I would just suggest a couple points.

Railbank it, make it into a trail for a few folks to walk along. Then later try to put the tracks back. The howl from the Sierra Club and the local hiking club, and ?????? will be painfully loud and unending. And the expense of laying track, ties, gravel, etc. will be more expense than anyone could stand. Dispite the "good idea". once the track is ripped up and a few folks start walking along it, it will never go back to a railroad!

Why not just leave the tracks where they are, and make a trail along side of it. Trails can go up and down a little, and around trees, etc. That's what makes them interesting. Seems to me a trail that is dead flat and has wide sweeping turns (like a railroad grade) is not very interesting.