What I'm describing is actually possible with ordinary materials, unlike the space elevator. This is less science fiction than a space elevator. Steel is good enough. Oh, and the throughputs possible for systems like this make a space elevator look like a toy.
I'm referring to concepts like the orbital ring.
You could absolutely build a train to space using such active support methods. And a more fanciful and impractical version is vast water-filled structures that allow one to literally a sail a boat to the Moon. I doubt someone would actually go to the trouble of building such a massive and impractical construct for such a silly purpose. But in principle it is possible.