Your proposal should draw much more heavily from existing practice, in particular for attributes like the surface. Typical rail trail surfaces are basalt rock leftover from the railroad, dirt (after the basalt rock sinks), stone dust deliberately placed, and pavement.
Despite having worked on several rail to trail conversions myself, I don't see much point in mapping them as rail trails. The fact of the former railroad is interesting to be sure, but had little bearing on the present use as a trail. Rail trails are usually more flat than non-rail trails, but that's about all that's really unique compared to any other dedicated cycleway. There are also variants of the rail trail concept, including rail with trail (active rail and a trail sharing the same corridor).
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