MARINA — This summer a new kind of recreational activity will be introduced on the Monterey Peninsula bringing old technology into the 21st century and breathing life into a long-dormant stretch of rail line, at least for a time.

An agreement involving the city of Marina, the Transportation Agency for Monterey County and the Museum of Handcar Technology will bring guided handcar tours across 3.5 miles of the Monterey Branch Line through Fort Ord Dunes State Park.

“We surveyed a lot of different rail lines,” said Todd Clark, a principal of Handcar Tours, part of the Museum of Handcar Technology. “We looked at Marina before the prototype was completed.”

Clark, along with his son Mason, and the rest of the family, own and operate the business that manufactures and exhibits historic replica handcars.

Mason Clark built his first railroad handcar when he was 12, and developed a business building and selling handcars to customers around the world by the time he was 16. He graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Program at Cal Poly Pomona where he designed an all-new touring handcar currently manufactured for Handcar Tours. The handcar venture is a side business for the younger Clark, who is employed as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace field.

This is the first Handcar Tours project of its kind for the Clarks. The company has been working on this venture since August 2019 when it first approached the Transportation Agency for Monterey County to lease the tracks. It decided on the branch line for its beautiful scenery, manageable grades and the unique loop that brings the handcars back to the starting point.

Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado said he has been part of a volunteer force of about 20 community members that have been helping to clear the tracks. Recently, “about a dozen volunteers finished the loop area.”

The Museum of Handcar Technology manufactures human-powered railroad vehicles and operates an interpretive educational venture called Handcar Tours.

In February, the Transportation Agency for Monterey County approved a lease for the company to demonstrate its handcar concept across the Monterey Branch Line for a 30-day trial run. Since then, the company and volunteers from the city of Marina have been busy clearing trees, brush, and ice plant from the more than 3 miles of track that has not seen use in many years.

The lease is for 90 days and the company plans to take people on its Handcar Tours for 30 days.

“The endgame is to demonstrate to the community if this is something they’d like to see on the branch line on a regular basis,” said Clark. “We would love to have a permanent enterprise with a museum but for now we’re just looking at a demonstration event.”

The Handcar Tour would begin in Marina at the corner of Palm Drive and Marina Avenue on the oldest portion of the Monterey Branch Line that dates back to 1875. The handcars are propelled by the physical effort of the occupants’ arms and legs. Each can carry up to four participants, two of whom are required to be over 16 years in age with each participant being at least 46 inches tall and under 275 pounds.

Each handcar will cost about $130 to tour on, divided among a group of four that works out to be $32.50 a piece.

After a safety briefing, the tour group of 12 handcars will be led by trained guides at the front and rear through the excursion of about 50 minutes in duration.

Clark said that the start date is tentatively planned for Aug. 1, “however, if we can get ahead of schedule we could start mid-July.”

The Clarks are investing about $75,000 in this labor of love, and Todd Clark said “it’s very fulfilling to do this.” He said that when you are building something you love, bringing it to Marina and seeing people’s faces and reactions to the handcars, “it was golden and what we’re after … sharing the joy it has brought to my family over the years.”

Delgado said working and riding the handcar was exhilarating, and he was glad so many community members have taken an interest in the venture.

The Clarks will be returning to the area at the end of April to work on repairing the rail switches, among other work that still needs to be done to make sure the route is safe and passable.

For more information, visit www.handcar.com.