Angels Flight - WikiHQ

Angels Flight is a historic narrow-gauge funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It has two funicular cars, named Olivet and Sinai, that run in opposite directions on a shared cable. The tracks cover a distance of over a vertical gain of .

The funicular has operated on two different sites, using the same cars and station elements. The original location, with trackage along the side of Third Street Tunnel and connecting Hill Street and Olive Street, operated from 1901 until 1969, when its site was cleared for redevelopment.

The current location opened half a block south of the original location in 1996, mid-block between 3rd and 4th Streets, with tracks connecting Hill Street and California Plaza. It was closed again during June and July 2011, and then again after a minor derailment incident in September 2013. The investigation of this latter incident led to the discovery of potentially serious safety problems in both the design and the operation of the funicular. In June 2025, citing increased operating costs, the fare was increased to $1.50 for a one-way fare and $3 for a round trip fare (75 cents for TAP card users).

History

Original location

Angels Flight funicular was built as the "Los Angeles Incline Railway" in 1901, with financing from J. W. Eddy. It began at the west corner of Hill Street at Third, and ran for two blocks uphill (northwestward) to its Olive Street terminus. The service consisted of two vermillion "boarding stations" and two cars, named Sinai and Olivet, alternately pulled up the steep incline by metal cables powered by engines at the upper Olive Street station. The downhill car descended by gravity alone. An archway labeled "Angels Flight" greeted passengers on the Hill Street entrance, which became the official name of the railway in 1912 when the Funding Company of California purchased it from its founders.

The original Angels Flight was a conventional funicular, with both cars connected to the same haulage cable and no track brakes in case of cable failure; a separate safety cable would be activated in a break. It operated for 68 years with a good safety record, with three notable incidents: a derailment with a single female passenger in 1913, a sleeping salesman being dragged several yards by a car in 1937, and a sailor walking up the tracks being killed in 1943. In 1962 condemnation proceedings instigated by Los Angeles forced Moreland to sell to the city, whose redevelopment agency hired Oliver & Williams Elevator Company to run the line until it was shut down on May 18, 1969. Dismantling began the following day, and the cars were hauled off to a warehouse. The railroad's arch, station house, drinking fountain, and other artifacts were taken to an outdoor storage yard in Gardena, California.

In November 1952, the Beverly Hills Parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West erected a plaque to commemorate fifty years of service by the railway. The plaque reads:

In 1962, the city's new Cultural Heritage Board (today its Cultural Heritage Commission) designated five sites it regarded as "threatened" as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments, with Angel's Flight listed as No. 4. or May 18, 1969, when the Bunker Hill area underwent a controversial total redevelopment, which destroyed and displaced a community of almost 22,000 working-class families who were renting rooms in architecturally significant but run-down buildings; the demolished residences were replaced with a contemporary mixed-use district of high-rise commercial buildings and modern apartment and condominium complexes. Both of the Angels Flight cars, Sinai and Olivet, were then placed in storage at 1200 S. Olive Street, Los Angeles. This was the location of Sid and Linda Kastner's United Business Interiors. At this location, the Kastners maintained "The Bandstand," a private museum. The Bandstand featured antique, coin-operated musical instruments where one of the cars (Sinai) was on display in the museum. Olivet was stored in the garage of the building. They were stored at this location for 27 years at no charge in anticipation of the railway's restoration and reopening, which according to the city's Redevelopment Agency, was originally slated to take place within two years.

Reconstruction

After being stored for 27 years, the funicular was rebuilt and reopened by the newly formed Angels Flight Railway Foundation on February 24, 1996, half a block south of the original site. Although the original cars, Sinai and Olivet, were used, a new track and haulage system was designed and built—a redesign which had unfortunate consequences five years later. As rebuilt, the funicular retained its general length and approximately 33% grade.

As with the original line, car movement was controlled by an operator inside the upper station house, who was responsible for visually determining that the track and vehicles were clear for movement, closing the platform gates, starting the cars moving, monitoring the operation of the funicular cars, observing car stops at both stations, and collecting fares from passengers. The cars themselves did not carry any staff members. However, regular analysis of gear box oil-samples was discontinued in May 1998, despite the company contracted to perform the tests advising that the rising particulate level in the samples warranted more frequent testing. On November 20, 2009, another step in the approval process was achieved. Finally, on March 10, 2010, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the safety certificate for the railroad to begin operating again.

The new drive and safety system completely replaced the faulty system that was the cause of the fatal 2001 accident. Like the original Angels Flight design and most traditional funicular systems, the new drive system incorporates a single main haulage cable, with one car attached to each end. Also like the original design, a second safety cable is utilized. To further enhance safety, unlike the original design, each car now has a rail brake system, as a backup to the main backup emergency brakes on each bull-wheel. Another added safety feature is an independent evacuation motor to move the cars should the main motor fail for any reason.

Reopening and temporary closing

thumb|The interior of a renovated Angels Flight car, 2010

Angels Flight reopened to the public for riding on March 15, 2010, and local media covered the event with interest. Only a month after re-opening, Angels Flight had had over 59,000 riders. It connected the Historic Core and Broadway commercial district with the hilltop Bunker Hill California Plaza urban park and the Museum of Contemporary Art – MOCA. The cost of a one-way ride at that time was 50 cents (25 cents with TAP card).

On June 10, 2011, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered Angels Flight to immediately cease operations due to wear on its cars' fifteen-year-old wheels. Inspectors determined they needed replacing. The railway reopened on July 5, 2011, after eight new custom-made wheels were installed.

2013 accident

On September 5, 2013, one car derailed near the middle of the guideway. One passenger was on board the derailed car, and five passengers were on board the other car. Although there were no injuries, passengers had to be rescued from the cars by firefighters. The brake safety system had been "intentionally" bypassed using a small tree branch. A 2014 brief by the NTSB said that the "probable cause of the September 5, 2013, accident was the intentional bypass of the funicular safety system with Angels Flight management knowledge; and Angels Flight management continuation of revenue operations despite prolonged, and repeated, unidentified system safety shutdowns." The NTSB also noted a problem with the basic design: "The car body and the wheel-axle assembly are not articulated." The passing section of the track involves a short turning section, which allows the cars to pass each other. The axles did not turn to follow the track, resulting in the wheel flanges grinding against the rail, causing excessive wheel wear. This problem, combined with safety system problems which caused unwanted track brake deployment, resulted in a derailment. Safety upgrades were made to the doors of the cars, and an evacuation walkway was added adjacent to the track. These enhancements were made by ACS Infrastructure Development and SENER through an agreement with Angels Flight Railway Foundation, in exchange for a share of the funicular's revenue over the next three decades. Angels Flight reopened for public service on August 31, 2017.

In popular culture

thumb|Angels Flight in August, 2024.|299x299px

Film, television, and video

Angels Flight has appeared in more than 100 films. Angels Flight's earliest appearance on film is believed to be Their Ups and Downs (1914), starring Eddie Lyons, Victoria Forde, and Lee Moran. Other early appearances include: All Jazzed Up (1920), The Impatient Maiden (1932), The Unfaithful (1940), Hollow Triumph (1948), M (1951), The Turning Point (1952), Cry of the Hunted (1953), Bunker Hill: A Tale of Urban Renewal (1956), The Exiles (1961), The Money Trap (1965), Angel's Flight (1965), and They Came to Rob Las Vegas (1968). It appeared as a landmark rather than an active filming location in the Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948), Criss Cross (1949), and The Last Day of Angels Flight (1969) both center on the railway's closure in 1969. It was reopened for public use in 2017, and can be seen in The Saint.

The railway is present in a 1953 episode of Boston Blackie, and in the only color episode of the original Perry Mason, "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist" in 1966. The Bold and the Beautiful (2010), and in the Runaways episode "Old School" (2018). The original Angels Flight is featured in the Perry Mason remake (2020).

Literature, visual arts, and music

The first book to be named Angel's Flight in reference to the railway may be Don Ryan's 1927 novel. It is used by characters in Raymond Chandler's The High Window (1942); in Michael Connelly's 1999 Angels Flight; and in Nick Carter's 1967 The Red Guard. The railway is illustrated and at the center of events in Piccolo's Prank by Leo Politi. Millard Sheets' 1931 oil painting Angel's Flight, which shows two young women on the looking down from the upper platform, is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's permanent collection.

The funicular is referenced in "L.A. (My Town)" by Four Tops (1970), "Strange Season" by Michael Penn (1992), and "Aquatic Mouth Dance" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (2022). The music video for "Icy" (2019) by ITZY contains dance scenes inside the Angels Flight. Michael Penn's album Free-for-All (2019) shows Angels Flight on the cover.

References

External links

memory.loc.gov. Official L.o.C. HABS/HAER/HALS website