First off, the 280,00km number was an outside estimate.
It'll probably be more like 100,00 km for a realistic cable-station design.

Now which SEEMS more reasonabe? Obviously the smaller number cause my
widdle brain is frightened by big numbers.

Actually, a space elevator in the way that I'm thinking of it is not a complicated
or massive structure, just rather long. I'm not talking about a Clarke tower solid
diamond shaft and cable, that's clearly current space manufacturing technology
and capability.

I'm talking about an anchored cable strip, a width of (2-4)cm and thickness of mm
which relies on tensile strength. A 100,00km space elevator cable would be less
massive(lighter), require less power(one climber not a network of coils) and be MUCH
more easily constructed than a super sized railgun.

You couldn't use it for launching interplanetary missions though. A ship leaving from
EOTL station would need propellant.