One of the earliest working applications of this in the 19th century was very near to where I live in Dublin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalkey_Atmospheric_Railway. The railway was used to carry stone from the quarry (which was a few hundred feet above sea level) to the shore a couple of kilometres away, to build what is now Dun Laoghaire harbour.

One of the small roads near where the line used to run is still called Atmospheric Road.