I'd like to take up your invitation with a few thoughts on light rail.  As a child, I lived in Oak Park, IL, within easy walking distance of a stop on the Elevated system.  It was very convenient: from there, a dime would get me almost anywhere in Chicago.  At that time also (1930s) there were connections from the downtown "loop," or from convenient stations, with electric interurban routes to points up to 50 miles or so away in northern Indiana and west and southwest of Chicago, as well as north 90 miles to Milwaukee.  All these were heavily used commuter lines.  All this was in addition to the "heavy rail" local and commuting services.

In the early part of the century, electric power use was heavy in the winter months and somewhat slack in the summer.  In order to balance the load, power companies across the country, especially in the north, invested in amusement parks where there was light rail access.  I can't speak for other areas, but around Chicago, the interurban lines were built as part of a utility holding company pyramid scheme headed by Sam Insull, that collapsed in 1929, taking some of my Dad's stock with it.  However, the electric lines continued to operate beyond the depression years.  The need for summer load balance turned around after the war, with the spread of air conditioning.

In my view, the public and political resistance (re: Ohio, in this thread) is simply stupid and short-sighted.  It appears to stem from it being seen as antique or quaint -- nostalgic and just not "progress" -- therefore unwanted.  But, dammit, it WORKED!

Cheers,
-- Mort.  

Actually I've never heard Alan mention anything about tail. Rail, yes, but no tail. Interesting Freudian slip though.