Never personally seen a Dogman but this is actually really interesting to me because of the ley line angle. Old railways often follow ancient trackways and natural energy corridors, same routes people and animals have used for thousands of years. So maybe its not the tracks themselves but what the tracks were built on top of.
There are a few old rail lines near me in Northumberland and I've always felt weird walking them at dusk, can't explain it properly. Nothing paranormal happened but just that feeling you know?
Would be curious if anyone has mapped the sighting locations against older maps showing drovers roads or ancient paths. Bet there'd be some overlap. Anyone done that kind of research or is it just coincidence the sightings cluster there?