The Atami Jinsha Tetsudo (Jap. for Atami man(powered) vehicle railway) was a 9.5miles long 2feet manpowerered narrow gauge railway in the province of Izu, Japan which was operated around 1900.
The initially 7miles long handcar line was opened in 1895[1] and connected the coastal towns Atami and Yoshihama on the Izu Peninsula. The train crew comprised two men and a boy. The men, muscular coolies, pushed the car on the up-grades and jumped on the rear platform for a ride when the car was coasting on a level or down-grade. The boy rode on the front platform, and it was his duty to blow a horn as a warning at hills and curves, and to manipulate the brakes. The fare, including tips for the crew, on the road was equivalent to 21 cents per round trip.[2] The line was expanded by 2.5miles to Odawara in 1896.[1]
In 1907 the track was re-gauged to, and steam locomotives were introduced.[3] The line closed in 1923 as a result of the Great Kanto earthquake.[1]