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"The only problem I have is with liberals who use his IHS to rationalize all kinds of government spending as “good” for the economy."

Republicans have to plead "guilty" to the charge of historically supporting major infrastructure investments. For examples:

George Washington favored, but could not get, federal spending on canals. They remained state and private investments.
Lincoln had been a railroad lawyer and the transcontinental railroad was his major infrastructure project. The reasons were at least in part to improve national security by allowing quick transfer of troops to the west.
Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System was also in part a national defense measure.

Dems, of course, look at all government spending, including infrastructure, as being forms of welfare, intended to create jobs if possible, sure, but more important to buy votes for Democrats.

And as we saw with Obama, their sudden interest in "shovel ready projects" turned out to be nothing more than a smokescreen -- to cover up trillions of dollars going to government employees and favored business bailouts.

Shovel ready?
What Dems were really shoveling was not dirt, but something shall we say, more organic? ;-)

Have you read Burt Folsom’s Myth of the Robber Barons? It has a great chapter on the UP and railroads.

He distinguishes between political entrepreneurs and market entrepreneurs and it is critical to distinguish between the two.

The former we don’t want and the latter are attacked by the former.