Not my main area but I've read enough accounts to notice the pattern yeah. Old rail lines, disused tunnels, anywhere with that kind of long straight corridor running through woodland. My theory is its less about the railway itself and more about what grew up alongside it - the embankments, the dense scrub, the fact nobody really goes down there anymore. Perfect habitat for something that doesn't want to be seen.
The Somerset levels have a few old tracks and I've had mates mention weird stuff near one of them, nothing definitive but enough to make me take note.
Curious whether anyone's cross-referenced the sighting locations against how old the lines are. Pre-Beeching closures specifically. Some of those routes have been abandoned 60+ years now and the vegetation is properly thick and undisturbed. Feels like that would be worth mapping out properly rather than just collecting anecdotes.
Anyone actually done fieldwork near one of these sites rather than just reading reports?