Never occurred to me before but now I can't stop thinking about it - old rail corridors are basically wildlife superhighways that humans largely abandoned, so something large and bipedal could move considerable distances without much bother.
Suffolk doesn't get many Dogman reports (we're more of a Black Shuck county, to be fair), but I did a spirit box session last autumn near the old Aldeburgh branch line and got some genuinely unsettling responses when I asked about large animals in the area. Make of that what you will.
The rail line theory actually makes a lot of sense from a purely technical standpoint:
Linear corridors = predictable movement patterns, Overgrown embankments = excellent cover, Culverts and tunnels = ready-made sheltering points, Away from roads = reduced human contact
Has anyone cross-referenced specific sighting coordinates against OS maps showing disused lines? The Disused Stations database is brilliant for this - you could potentially build a proper distribution map rather than just anecdotal clustering.
Also wondering if there's a ley line overlap here because several old rail routes in the Midlands seem to shadow much older trackways. Could be pure coincidence, obviously, but worth someone with better GIS skills than me having a proper look.
What regions are people seeing the highest concentration of reports? Genuinely curious whether this holds up outside North America.