Well, Transport Tycoon Deluxe was the game that scratched that itch for me back in the day and I've been long looking for something along these lines, but with more eyecandy.
Not sure if that's what you're looking for for, but the closest I came is this little thing:
Edit: is media embedding fug'd? Here's a direct link just in case:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/598960/Mashinky/
Yep, looks like it's fug'd.
It's basically a one-man project, still in early access (yeah, that's two red flags right there), but contrary to expectations, this guy actually seems to know what he's doing
and while the feature rollout isn't the fastest, it seems to be progressing steadily at its own pace. It plays pretty much like TTD but is quite purdy once you swith to the all bells and whistles 3D mode.
You can also toggle a simplified 2D view, which is useful when you want to place stuff efficiently:
Like I said, the head dev really looks like he knows what he's doing.
It's still EA, so the gameplay isn't yet finished, can be a bit barebones (or used to be, back when I checked), but is entirely sufficient. You find two places that need connecting and types of goods that need to be hauled and it's entirely up to you to make it happen.
As you haul goods, you earn tokens which can be used for progression, various upgrades, unlocks etc. The towns will grow based on the cargo you deliver. You will also get a random task from time to time.
There's no pressure to make it all hyper-efficient, unless you want to unlock something really quickly, you can spend your time designing a scenic route, hop on the train and pull the line to make it go choo choo.
