Angels Flight, the 'shortest railroad in the world,' reopens in downtown L.A.

 After nine years in mothballs, the so-called "shortest railroad in the world" was again ferrying passengers up and down Bunker Hill as the Angels Flight funicular reopened Monday morning.

Hearty Angels Flight lovers were on hand at 6:45 a.m. as the approximately 300-foot-long railway -- which was closed in 2001 after a deadly accident -- again cranked up.

"It's great, as much fun as when I was a kid," said William Daniel, 67, among a group of passengers who hopped on the orange funicular at 6:43 a.m.

"I think it's going a little faster now," he added. "It's wonderful they didn't change the trolley much. It's virtually the same, except for the electric door. And more warning signs."

The California Public Utilities Commission last week approved the safety certificate for Angels Flight.

In a letter to Angels Flight Railway Co., the PUC said that it had "no major safety concerns" regarding the rail line. The company had faced numerous delays in reopening the funicular.

The rail line was designed to connect downtown L.A. with the residential community on Bunker Hill. But when the city demolished that neighborhood as part of a 1960s redevelopment push, Angels Flight was left moribund. The funicular was revived in 1996 after years of effort by preservationists.

"I think Los Angeles is a wonderful place with important history and the only part of Bunker Hill that remains is Angels Flight," said John Welborne, president of the Angels Flight Railway Foundation, said Monday morning.

In 2001, a car broke loose and slid backward  before smashing into another rail car at the bottom of the steep hill, killing an 83-year-old man and injuring seven other people. Federal investigators concluded that faulty mechanical and brake systems, combined with weak oversight, were to blame.

The ride Monday morning was not the smoothest, and the rail cars shook a little bit, but Angels Flight was restored to ride like it did in 1969, Welborne said.

The funicular features new equipment, but the technology is much the same, save for some added safety features. The kind of head on collision that happened nine years ago is no longer possible, he said.

-- Hector Becerra at Bunker Hill

Photo: The Angels Flight funicular resumes operation Monday morning after being closed for nine years. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Photos: Angels Flight Railway reopens

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Comments

[Taggart]

I'd expect a junior high school student newsletter to confuse "hearty" for "hardy," but not the major daily in the second-largest city in the nation.

[Cheryl McDonald]

Anyone know the hours of operation? This is a big gift to those of us who live in Civic Center and the Historic Core!

[richard schumacher]

Imagine that, only nine years to re-invent the elevator :_> Still, it will be fun to ride it again.

[Johan B.]

The scale is off in your infographic. Angel's Flight is 300 feet, but the legend in the upper left indicates it's nearly 1 mile long.

[ChewChewTrain]

ANGEL'S FLIGHT TEST PILOT?

Gee. Is being THE FIRST to ride up a steep grade in an old train such a good idea?

[bill]

i love the "cranky" looking woman in the window - its so candid and realistic. great photo, shows how tough they are to deal with

[James]

What an unconscionable waste of money! On a busy day Angel's Flight will move 50 tourists. On a slow day it won't move any tourists. Everyday however it will move much-needed money from our pockets into the blackhole of city hall's general fund.

[richard schumacher]

It really is pretty much a pair of elevators cabled together half lying on their sides and not a train. That makes the 2001 design screwups and failure all the more appalling.

[SK]

Shortest railroad? Is it shorter than the Orient Express at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia?

[janet]

what a huge gigantic waste

[Ruby Jackson]

That is one weird photo.

[Ulysses S.]

"What an unconscionable waste of money!"

Um, it's run by a nonprofit, not your piddly tax dollars.

Are churches a waste of money?

[Rich Rodriguez]

It's great to see Angels Flight finally back in service. I have walked the parallel steps up and down Bunker Hill many a time and was delighted to see Olivet and Sinai back on the tracks in January.

It is indeed a weird looking slanted choo-choo to modern L.A. natives like me. But similar incline railways have operated elsewhere in the USA for over a century, such as the Duquesne and Monongahela Inclines in Pittsburgh, the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway in Chattanooga, TN and the Fourth Street Elevator in Dubuque, IA. A similar railway at the Pacific Palms Resort in the City of Industry is currently closed for maintenance.

[Emily Boyd]

This is wonderful!! I was so afraid it was not going to reopen and this saddened me. I have very good childhood memories riding that hill!

[Charlie McCarthy]

Ummm. Forget something? How much does it cost? It can't be cheap.

[Ken Ruben]

The hours are 6:45 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., 365 days a year, holidays included. This is per the notices posted at Angels Flight.

I was on the last run at the old location in 1969, and present for the reopening in 1996.

John Welborne deserves everyone's thanks for getting Angels
Flight back in operation even though it took a lot longer than expected.

[Nancy Marzo]

I used to ride this as a kid, living on Bunker Hill. Later I would take my children on a trip "downtown" to let them ride it also. Then my grandchildren and I would come down and ride the old cars and then go thru the "big" market and the walk around downtown. It is a wonderful old ride. Looking forward to taking my grgrandson for a ride...