Usually rail trails are deliberately constructed and maintained however. Although the degree to which this is done varies. And it's also not uncommon for some section of a rail trail to have been worked on and other sections are in the plans for someday--whether because of money or local opposition.

ADDED: And as noted elsewhere the railroad or its successors in ownership often still own the right-of-way--however unlikely it would be to revert a popular rail trail to rail use.

For more info, see https://www.railstotrails.org/.

Notable examples in Seattle include the Burke-Gilman trail, the Sammamish River trail, and close by the Snoqualmie River trail, etc.

The Virginia Capital trail is a good one at 52mi long. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Capital_Trail

That site badly needs a map of all the trails they support. If there is one, I can't find it...