Thank you, mikeb & Paul D., for trying to separate the hay from the chaff. ( so to speak ). Nobody questions the use of public money to maintain / fix public roads. Everybody uses them, they go everywhere, they must be kept up. Using public money to fix a railroad, even a municipal - owned one like Port of Tillamook Bay, is not as popular with the rubber - tire crowd. Of course, the railroad hauls freight that otherwise would end up on these same roads, damaging the surface & slowing things down. But most people don't see that. Until it's too late.
As I've said before, in reference to another ex - Espee branchline to the coast, a million dollars of public money spent on a railroad will get you a lot more product, than the same amount spent on a highway.