@mos_8502 sounds a lot like what #DEC #openVMS #VAX enthusiasts have been doing for years with #HECnet:
https://www.reddit.com/r/hecnet/comments/14erxn1/hecnet_a_global_hobbyist_decnet_network/

It currently has 1100+ connected nodes:
http://mim.stupi.net/nodedb

I have a habit of mirroring retrocomputing projects on my Github organization so that I can patch and integrate them. The most recent addition is PyDECnet, a user-mode #DECnet Phase IV stack that can be used to connect to #HECnet - and it is under relatively active development upstream.

#retrocomputing #openvms #vax
https://github.com/retroprom/pydecnet/tree/master/pydecnet