Friday, October 28, 2011

the short Angels Flight funicular, Los Angeles


An undated postcard, but probably early 1950s - text on the back: "Built in 1901 by Colonel J.W. Eddy, lawyer, engineer and friend of President Abraham Lincoln, Angels Flight is said to be the world's shortest incorporated railway. The counterbalanced cars, controlled by cables, travel a 33 percent grade for 315 feet [96 metres]. It is estimated that Angels Flight carried more passengers per mile than any other railway in the world, over a hundred million in its first fifty years."

This was the original Angels Flight location connecting Hill Street and Olive Street, operated from 1901 until it was closed in 1969, when its site was cleared for redevelopment.

The second Angels Flight location opened nearby to the south in 1996, with tracks connecting Hill Street and California Plaza. It was re-closed in 2001, after a fatal accident, and took nine years to commence operations again, on 15 March 2010. It has been running safely since, except for another closure from 10 June 2011 to 5 July 2011, with 25 cents the cost of a one-way ride, now 50 cents.

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