What’s Up in Los Angeles
The little funicular that could
Downtown L.A.’s beloved
Angels Flight is due to reopen by Labor Day. By Michael Juliano
OF ALL THE ambitious city-spanning rail projects in the works across Los Angeles, it’s oddly the return of Angels Flight, the self- proclaimed “shortest railway in the world,” that has the city abuzz this summer. By Labor Day, after a four-year closure,
Olivet and Sinai—as the two railcars are affectionately known—will resume their 298- foot route up and down Bunker Hill under a new operational deal that will keep the tiny train running for at least 30 years. Angels Flight, a technological novelty when
it was built in 1901, saved Angelenos a hike up one of the area’s steepest hills. The science behind the funicular is the same as it was 116 years ago: Two cars use a single inclined track—save a doubled midsection so they can pass each other—via a shared cable that pulls one car up as gravity guides the other down; don’t worry, a proper braking system was added in the aughts. Other than a brief hush-hush revival for its
DISCOVER! Time Out Los Angeles July 12–October 10, 2017
hold down a run button that overrode the two trains’ safety systems. The Angels Flight we know today is in fact the train’s second iteration; it sat on the slope above Third Street until 1969, when it was dismantled to make room for what’s
La La Land cameo, the Downtown railway has sat stationary since a slew of issues halted its service in 2013, when operators at the station were using a tree branch to permanently
now a high-rise senior community. Olivet and Sinai were supposed to nap for just a two-year closure, but due to bureaucratic and budgetary holdups, they didn’t resurface until 1996, when the railway was reconstructed a half block south, in its current location. When it was first constructed, Angels Flight provided a carefree link between the Victorian mansions atop Bunker Hill and the bustling flats of Downtown. These days you’re more likely to find postlunch food- coma–ridden office workers making their way from Grand Central Market back up to California Plaza, but the train’s history still shines through.
Get more citycentric news at
timeout.com/los-angeles/blog. 2
PHOTOGRAPHS: SHUTTERSTOCK
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