Curbed LA - Bunker Hill’s Angels Flight reopeningLove where you live2017-08-31T10:25:23-07:00http://la.curbed.com/rss/stream/159671972017-08-31T10:25:23-07:002017-08-31T10:25:23-07:00Angels Flight, LA’s beloved tiny railway, is open again
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<figcaption>Freshly painted Sinai traverses Bunker Hill. | Bianca Barragan</figcaption>
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<p>The bright orange cars cost $1 to ride</p> <p id="28GV1L">Closed for nearly four years due to safety issues, Los Angeles’s favorite funicular—Angels Flight—reopened to the public today in Downtown Los Angeles. </p>
<p id="Ll5vye">The tiny railway ferries passengers up and down Bunker Hill, just as it did more than 100 years ago. Back then, the train cars, named Sinai and Olivet, were painted white and roundtrips cost just a penny. </p>
<p id="VDCzyt">Now, it costs $1 (cash only) for a one-way ride, and the cars are painted vibrant orange and black. Riders with Metro TAP cards can get a reduced fare of 50 cents.</p>
<p id="S0IKfH">It’s a short, rickety ride—but absolutely one worth taking. It feels like stepping back in time. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took the first official ride, and was all smiles afterward.</p>
<p id="eHOMGZ">Before hopping aboard, he told the gaggle of media gathered for a press conference that this is a great day “for all of us who love history, all of us who love Downtown.”</p>
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<p id="xpGdXx">The 282-foot-long railway opened in 1901 next to the Third Street tunnel, a half block north from its present-day location directly across from the Hill Street entrance to <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/6/16/14659098/grand-central-market-hours-restaurants-eggslut">Grand Central Market</a>. At the time, Bunker Hill was a residential neighborhood filled with Victorian mansions, and the railway connected residents with the businesses below.</p>
<p id="SyqWkg">The city redeveloped Bunker Hill in 1969, and Angels Flight was dismantled and placed into storage. It opened at its present location in <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/8/30/16212142/angels-flight-reopening-memories">1996</a>. </p>
<p id="OG9RFu">Angels Flight has been closed since <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2013/9/5/10201160/angels-flights-demons">a derailment in September 2013</a>, the most recent in a string of safety concerns over the previous years. A 2001 derailment that resulted in one passenger’s death shuttered the railway until 2010. Another safety issue in 2011 resulted in closure of the funicular yet again.</p>
<p id="5XSQl0">Preservationists Richard Schave and Kim Cooper launched a <a href="http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/a-new-change-org-petition-to-save-angels-flight-is-taking-off/">petition</a> in 2015 to reopen the funicular, but city leaders seemed more motivated after the attraction was featured in 2017 Oscar <a href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/2/22/14685936/oscars-2017-la-la-land-best-picture-prediction">Best Picture</a> nominee <a href="https://la.curbed.com/maps/la-la-land-filming-locations"><em>La La Land</em></a><em>. </em></p>
<p id="RD6x2R">“Angels Flight is a treasure that captivates us universally as Angelenos,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember José Huizar. “It speaks to our past and a restored and safer Angels Flight points to our future as a modern, multi-modal Downtown Los Angeles.”</p>
<p id="zgA6ON">The cars will run again as the city <a href="http://la.curbed.com/2017/1/5/14178398/angels-knoll-park-hollywood-development-bunker-hill">looks to redevelop</a> the park that surrounds the tracks with a tower of “unlimited height.” The property is fenced off to the public and has been marketed as prime for mixed-use development that would integrate the funicular and Metro station next-door.</p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zvLxfWbbyZ-z_aX7a4qwBzPWCoE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8075427/angels_flight_historic_photo.jpg">
<cite>Los Angeles Public Library photo collection</cite>
<figcaption>Angels Flight at its original location next to the Third Street tunnel.</figcaption>
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<p id="LgwgaO">Angels Flight’s new operator, ACS Infrastructure, worked with the nonprofit Angels Flight Railway Foundation and Sener, an engineering firm, to reopen the beloved Bunker Hill attraction. According to the <a href="http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/angels-flight-to-reopen-thursday/article_e7b6683a-8929-11e7-acdf-13e2ebe31837.html"><em>Downtown News</em></a> that repairs to the tracks and cars, including the installation of a new emergency stairway and updates to the motors, cost almost $5 million.</p>
<p id="8lI7Pt">The group will continue working together as the Angels Flight Development Company to operate the railway; they have a 30-year contract with the city. </p>
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https://la.curbed.com/2017/8/25/16202758/downtown-angels-flight-railway-reopening-dateBianca BarraganJenna Chandler2017-08-30T10:00:27-07:002017-08-30T10:00:27-07:00Riding Angels Flight 20 years ago
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<img alt="Workmen attach cables that will lift and lower 'Sinai,' the second of the twin cars of the historic Angels Flight placed on the inclined railway tracks linking Hill Street with Bunker Hill on Olive Street. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xjWLpHELD0DqngfYmpizvsIDWTk=/169x0:1872x1277/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56436271/Angels_Flight_1996.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Workmen attach cables to lower lift and lower ‘Sinai,’ the second of the twin cars of the historic Angels Flight, before it reopened in 1996. | <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?family=editorial&photographer=Ken+Lubas">Ken Lubas</a> / Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>“I recall listening to the wooden car creak as we descended to Hill Street”</p> <p id="vQf6ny">Now that Angels Flight is finally set to <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/8/25/16202758/downtown-angels-flight-railway-reopening-date">reopen</a> this week after <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2013/9/5/10201160/angels-flights-demons">closing</a> four years ago, I can’t help but reminisce about riding the historic landmark when it reopened to fanfare nearly two decades ago. I still remember the excitement in the air when the Los Angeles funicular returned to Bunker Hill—half a block south from its original location—on February 24, 1996.</p>
<p id="ULRgUd">My father, Gene Directo, worked at the architectural design firm that restored the 282-foot railway’s wooden structures and two trolley cars, Sinai and Olivet. As a result, my family and I were among the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1996-02-25/local/me-39843_1_angels-flight-railway">4,000 enthusiastic riders</a> who hopped aboard the 1901-built train that Saturday afternoon when the tracks officially began running again. </p>
<p id="HW7Ie5">Most of my memories of that day are hazy, but I remember my younger brothers playing at California Plaza’s Water Court fountains just before boarding the <a href="https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/incline-la-angels-flight-and-its-lost-sibling-court-flight-episode-1">incline railway</a>. Like many kids in the ’90s, my siblings and I were fans of Tim Burton’s <em>The Nightmare Before Christmas</em>, so we loved the train’s Halloween-like pumpkin orange and black color scheme. </p>
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<img alt="Angels Flight souvenir ticket" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pz6445SSB7FkzzmzFXjUgrXYxE4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9141249/angels_flight_ticket_stub_1.jpg">
<cite>Via the Directo Family</cite>
<figcaption>My souvenir ticket to board Angels Flight when it reopened in 1996.</figcaption>
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<p id="heYD94">I recall walking up to the ticket booth, handing the train operator my ticket, walking through the swinging doors, and listening to the wooden car creak as we descended to Hill Street. The one-way train ride spanned just over a minute, and the fare was just 25 cents each way, which, the <em>L</em><em>os </em><em>A</em><em>ngeles</em><em> Times</em> <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1996-02-25/local/me-39843_1_angels-flight-railway">notes</a>, was five times what it cost in 1969.</p>
<p id="aVkNJe">The rickety ride was punctuated by views of Downtown LA, which I wish I could remember in better detail as the skyline has <a href="https://la.curbed.com/maps/tower-highrise-construction-map-los-angeles">drastically changed</a> since then. Afterwards, we grabbed Mexican food for lunch at <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/6/16/14659098/grand-central-market-hours-restaurants-eggslut">Grand Central Market</a>, where the floor was still covered in sawdust. (Who would’ve guessed that the many taco vendors would eventually be outnumbered by third-wave coffee peddlers and celebrity chef-driven fare?)</p>
<p id="yWOt6U">My dad has much clearer memories of that day. “One part I remembered was Martha Diaz Aszkenazy’s speech,” he says. The development company that she co-founded with her husband, Sev Askenazy, also <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/article/ZZ/20051128/NEWS/511289851">helped</a> restore the landmark. </p>
<p id="aFlvV6">“She [talked about being] the descendant of a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bracero">bracero</a> and her ‘LA story,’” my dad says. He found significance in the diverse team of native Angelenos and immigrants who worked together in reviving one of LA’s most beloved cultural landmarks.</p>
<p id="gGR4vZ">His own boss had survived the Japanese internment camps and the construction manager was of European descent, he says. “You had this conglomeration of different people who are part of the LA community and who basically put Angels Flight back together,” he says. “That spoke to me as a first-generation Pinoy immigrant [who had a chance to be] a part of LA history.”</p>
<p id="zgti8S">He also recalls what it was like to work on the Angels Flight restoration project. </p>
<p id="LSU8l6">During the restoration, getting through “the various layers of paint to get to the bare wood was a slow process,” he says. It was also an incredible sight to see the heavy station arch posts—which were brought in from a Gardena storage yard and each weighed just under a ton—being lifted into their places by truck.</p>
<p id="KbGSky">“Underneath the Halloween colors, the cars were originally cream and white,” he tells me, as Beth Gates Warren also <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6e-GshOGqsIC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=angels+flight+cream+color&source=bl&ots=PzPfroEAgf&sig=eGzOkhtyXnuYnWNy3RTZdcLEVLA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt7oCw1v3VAhVS8mMKHawHD_MQ6AEITDAI#v=onepage&q=angels%20flight%20cream%20color&f=false">noted</a> in her book, <em>Artful Lives: Edward Weston, Margrethe Mather, and the Bohemians of Los Angeles</em>. Sinai and Olivet were painted their iconic orange and black colors after Angels Flight switched to a single slope track, he says. One online source <a href="http://downtownster.com/2009/03/a-look-at-angels-flight/">notes</a> that the repaint happened in the 1930s, but there’s no explanation why.</p>
<p id="CCGDIP">Angels Flight would halt and restart service following several derailments and accidents over the years, including one that turned fatal in 2001. (The company that designed the drive system, Lift Engineering, was later found to be at fault by the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111022062451/http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2003/RAR0303.pdf">National Transportation Safety Board</a> for the 2001 accident.)</p>
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<cite><a href="http://marcellatreybigblog.com/">Marcella Treybig Photography</a></cite>
<figcaption>Me and my husband in front of Angels Flight.</figcaption>
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<p id="g124gA">Throughout its life, Angels Flight would serve as a film backdrop for romanticized scenes of Los Angeles (the 1965 noir <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316601/"><em>Angel’s Flight</em></a>, <em>500 Days of Summer</em>, and <a href="https://la.curbed.com/maps/la-la-land-filming-locations"><em>La La Land</em></a>, to name <a href="http://www.electricearl.com/af/">just a few</a>) and countless engagement shoots, including my own.</p>
<p id="dBnrP1">The orange souvenir ticket from Angels Flight’s 1996 reopening is still tacked up to a cork bulletin board at my parents’ house. Now that the “world’s shortest railway” is finally returning to its tracks this Thursday, my husband and I look forward to making new memories with our growing family—and maybe even proudly displaying our own commemorative ticket in <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/7/12/15954438/how-to-buy-home-la-real-estate">our new home</a>.</p>
https://la.curbed.com/2017/8/30/16212142/angels-flight-reopening-memoriesDanielle Directo-Meston2017-06-26T11:47:27-07:002017-06-26T11:47:27-07:00With new construction, Angels Flight takes a big step toward reopening
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<img alt="A 2011 photo of the Angels Flight funicular. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PKkQ0wq12PS6ai2UHw80zsNFiSo=/72x0:1209x853/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55452703/6168140009_7afbf9ba80_o.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>The Bunker Hill funicular has been closed for over three years, but is set to reopen this summer. | <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/indigomood/6168140009">indigoMood</a> | Curbed LA flickr pool</figcaption>
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<p>The railway’s been closed for almost four years</p> <p id="5h0osd">The beloved Bunker Hill railway, Angels Flight, is taking a big leap towards <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14773966/angels-flight-los-angeles-railway-reopen">reopening this summer</a>. The <a href="http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/angels-flight-staircase-installation-begins-next-week/article_4ac98758-582f-11e7-83de-33ebb44e3fc0.html"><em>Downtown News</em></a> reports that construction is set to begin today on the emergency evacuation stairway alongside the railway. </p>
<p id="U3V9BM">The stairway’s construction has been a hurdle for the landmark funicular. The California Public Utilities Commission, the state regulatory agency overseeing the funicular, made the construction of the stairway a condition of the railway’s reopening after <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2013/9/5/10201160/angels-flights-demons">a derailment in September 2013</a>. </p>
<p id="GubAMS">That incident was the railway’s most recent in a chain of safety mishaps over the years: a 2001 derailment that resulted in one passenger’s death kept the railway closed until 2010. In 2011, another safety issue resulted in yet another closure of the funicular. </p>
<p id="MnHTPr">However, <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2015/7/23/9937600/angels-flight-reopening">disagreement about the stairway’s usefulness</a> in the event of an emergency kept the staircase from being installed, which in turn kept the railway offline for years. </p>
<p id="0UtiDy">It seems now as though that disagreement has been resolved. The walkway, as well as additional repairs to the railway, are being done by the Angels Flight Development Company, a public-private partnership made up of the city, the engineering firm Sener, ACS Infrastructure, says the <em>News</em>. The work on the walkway is expected to take about a week. </p>
<p id="7fc7mO">Last month, <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/5/10/15619618/bunker-hill-angels-flight-goats">goats returned</a> to the hill underneath Angel’s Flight to eat brush and vegetation in preparation for the 282-foot-long railway’s reopening, which is <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14773966/angels-flight-los-angeles-railway-reopen">expected to happen by Labor Day</a>. </p>
<ul>
<li id="jLe56X">
<a href="http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/angels-flight-staircase-installation-begins-next-week/article_4ac98758-582f-11e7-83de-33ebb44e3fc0.html">Angels Flight Staircase Installation Begins Next Week</a> [Downtown News]</li>
<li id="PoifOj">
<a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14773966/angels-flight-los-angeles-railway-reopen">Angels Flight, LA’s iconic tiny railway, will start running again</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
<li id="6zvmg1">
<a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/5/10/15619618/bunker-hill-angels-flight-goats">Goats return to Angels Flight in preparation for the iconic railway's reopening</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
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https://la.curbed.com/2017/6/26/15875136/angels-flight-reopening-stairway-constructionBianca Barragan2017-05-12T10:30:08-07:002017-05-12T10:30:08-07:00Goats return to Angels Flight—in preparation for the iconic railway's reopening
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gjjg1ElzuvKwZXk4s4A0K4fmd2M=/0x36:1168x912/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54731133/Screen_Shot_2017_05_10_at_9.54.07_PM.0.png" />
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<p>The trains are set to start running again this summer</p> <p id="5q4JTm"><em>Editor's Note: This post was originally published on May 11, 2017 and has been updated with the most recent information.</em></p>
<p id="3eQD0k">Like the swallows return to the Mission San Juan Capistrano, the goats returned to Angels Flight this week. </p>
<p id="YdZEzt">As the tradition goes, the goats are brought to chomp away at old brush, weeds, and anything that might be flammable in the area underneath the Angels Flight Railway, the iconic funicular that runs up and down Bunker Hill, between Hill and Olive. </p>
<p id="yIdDew">In past years, the goats have also visited the hilly Angel’s Knoll park, right alongside Angels Flight. But that was not the case this year, says George Gonzales of <a href="http://www.ranchito-tivo.com/">Ranchito Tivo Boer Goats</a>, the Chino-based company supplying the animals. </p>
<p id="x2Y3e3">This year, the adorable goats are on Bunker Hill specifically to clean up Angels Flight in preparation for its scheduled <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14773966/angels-flight-los-angeles-railway-reopen">reopening this summer</a>.</p>
<p id="CFLKBE">The funicular has been out of service since 2013—but is set to get back up and running by Labor Day.</p>
<p id="brOttv">Gonzales says his company donated the service to Angels Flight Railway Foundation, the nonprofit that owns the landmark. The cars will be repainted and an emergency walkway will be added to the funicular before its reopening. </p>
<p id="q1St7A">The tradition of using goats to do Angel’s Knoll brush clearance dates to 2008. Back then, the <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/07/goats-near-angels-flight.html"><em>L</em><em>os Angeles Times</em></a> explained, “It only takes about a week for the goats to clear the knoll, and at no extra charge they fertilize the land naturally.” </p>
<p id="AyUE5p">The job is tailor-made for goats, who will famously <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3706823/Goats-brought-nibble-beauty-spot-s-vegetation-tidy-accused-angry-locals-ruining-eating-EVERYTHING.html">eat anything</a>, and can easily handle the sometimes steep terrain in the area around and beneath the railway. </p>
<p id="BlG6ru">Gonzales says that he had 26 goats working on the Angel’s Flight site since Monday. Today is their last day in Downtown. </p>
<p id="wvhdZl">See some of our favorite photos of the cute goats at work:</p>
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</div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BT4bXcWDHdq/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Oh, you know, just a herd of goats doing hillside clearance in #DTLA</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Jeff L (@jefflym) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-05-09T18:29:20+00:00">May 9, 2017 at 11:29am PDT</time></p>
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<ul>
<li id="X0rVOs">
<a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/1/5/14178398/angels-knoll-park-hollywood-development-bunker-hill">LA moves forward to develop Angel’s Knoll with a building of ‘unlimited height’</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
<li id="7m6I4c">
<a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14773966/angels-flight-los-angeles-railway-reopen">Angels Flight, LA’s iconic tiny railway, will start running again</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
</ul>
https://la.curbed.com/2017/5/10/15619618/bunker-hill-angels-flight-goatsBianca Barragan2017-03-01T19:26:59-08:002017-03-01T19:26:59-08:00Old footage shows Angels Flight railway in its prime
<figure>
<img alt="Black and white photo of Angels Flight" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YJMmprmyJoepPOJqkCB1q6tLQw0=/42x0:758x537/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53492135/00077829.0.jpg" />
<figcaption><a href="http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/photosearch_pageADV.jsp">LA Public Library</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>See the famous funicular through the decades</p> <p id="KugEYE">With news breaking today that private company ACS Infrastructure Development, Inc., in partnership with the city of Los Angeles, will have the beloved Angels Flight railway <a href="http://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14773966/angels-flight-los-angeles-railway-reopen">up and running</a> by Labor Day, we’ve rounded up some footage of the 116-year-old funicular in its prime.</p>
<p id="wQTvY4">First, some raw footage of the railway shot in the 1940s. In the first shot, it’s easy to see that the railway has been moved from it’s original location next to the Third Street tunnel. Once, the railway connected Hill and Olive, but was taken apart in 1969, as Bunker Hill’s redevelopment got underway. It reappeared at its present spot, about a hundred yards south, in 1996:</p>
<div id="FPZMJb"><div><div style="left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bsinuT__Hg4?wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" style="top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div></div></div>
<p id="xtthOl">Here’s more footage, this time from the 1950s—and in color!</p>
<div id="Xv6SM0"><div><div style="left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yzy5OxuMnxE?wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" style="top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div></div></div>
<p id="98xupx">It’s clear from these shots how much Bunker Hill had changed by the ’50s since the railway opened in 1901. On one side of the track is one of the large Victorians that characterized the fashionable neighborhood at the turn of the 19th Century. On the other side are apartment buildings packed closely together. Both forms of housing (<a href="https://www.kcet.org/history-society/laws-that-shaped-la-how-bunker-hill-lost-its-victorians">7,310 units</a> in total) were razed to make way for the high-rises, museums, and plazas that make the area what it is today.</p>
<p id="Z2U7gc">(Also, check out that cheesy facade on <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/6/16/14659098/grand-central-market-hours-restaurants-eggslut">Grand Central Market</a>!)</p>
<p id="9swAPF">Finally, here’s a look at Angels Flight just five years before it began its long period of hibernation:</p>
<div id="ZHgHGI"><div><div style="left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xlfGyS6AEKQ?wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" style="top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div></div></div>
<p id="zmyEZY">Just look at how the camera lingers on the railway—even giving a cool view of the tracks themselves. Clearly, the director of this real feature length film (the classic <em>The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?</em>) recognized the strange beauty of this singular LA landmark.</p>
<ul>
<li id="0AHZJI">
<a href="http://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14773966/angels-flight-los-angeles-railway-reopen">Angels Flight, LA’s iconic tiny railway, will start running again</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
<li id="XLcsdB">
<a href="http://la.curbed.com/2017/1/5/14178398/angels-knoll-park-hollywood-development-bunker-hill">LA moves forward to develop Angel’s Knoll with a building of ‘unlimited height’</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
<li id="BKP0TW">
<a href="http://la.curbed.com/2015/7/23/9937600/angels-flight-reopening">Mayor Garcetti Trying to Get Downtown's Angels Flight Funicular Reopened ASAP</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
</ul>
https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14784932/angels-flight-railway-los-angeles-video-historyElijah Chiland2017-03-01T13:05:15-08:002017-03-01T13:05:15-08:00Angels Flight, LA’s iconic tiny railway, will start running again
<figure>
<img alt="In the foreground is the entrance to a railway with train tracks. The sign on the entrance reads Angels Flight. Behind the railway are buildings and a park with trees and flowers." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/H_tywPHGgFYdw1d4phK6SA5b-AU=/331x0:5686x4016/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53486687/angels_flight_2.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Angels Flight | <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Hayk_Shalunts">Hayk_Shalunts</a> / Shutterstock</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally!</p> <p id="2hpwcw"><a href="http://la.curbed.com/venue/25383/angels-flight-railway">Angels Flight</a>—a very short railway that runs up and down the hill between Hill and Olive streets in Downtown Los Angeles—will resume operation again for the first time in more than three years, city officials announced today.</p>
<p id="6B8zNK">“It is truly a historic day for one of Los Angeles’ most recognized treasures,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember José Huizar.</p>
<p id="sMTG6y">A <a href="https://angelsflight.org/">nonprofit</a> has been in charge of the attraction for more than a decade, but a new private operator, ACS Infrastructure Development, Inc., is taking over for the next 30 years, and it will reopen the funicular by Labor Day.</p>
<p id="0nKMSl">“It is our hope that this public-private partnership ensures the new Angel’s Flight will be safe, economically sustainable and—once again—a key city of Los Angeles cultural centerpiece for years to come,” Huizar said.</p>
<p id="2clcD2">Interest in the railway—which measures just 298 feet long—was reignited by the much buzzed-about<a href="http://la.curbed.com/maps/la-la-land-filming-locations"> <em>La La Land</em></a> (it made a cameo). </p>
<p id="IEanRH">But Angels Flight has been inactive since 2013 due to safety concerns. Its cable cars, Sinai and Olivet, are prone to break-downs and accidents—a passenger died in a crash in 2001. </p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zvLxfWbbyZ-z_aX7a4qwBzPWCoE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8075427/angels_flight_historic_photo.jpg">
<cite>Los Angeles Public Library photo collection</cite>
<figcaption>Angels Flight originally ran parallel to the Third Street Tunnel.</figcaption>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CJTC3MSVjRo4JSc2FaMArGqVtZQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8075429/Angels_Flight_death.jpg">
<cite>Los Angeles Public Library photo collection</cite>
<figcaption>An 83-year-old man died in a 2001 accident on Angels Flight.</figcaption>
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<p id="lGXBJE">When Angels Flight opened in on New Year’s Eve in 1901, passengers paid one cent to be ferried up the steep grade of Bunker Hill. At the time, Bunker Hill was a fashionable, upper-class neighborhood, and the funicular ended almost at the doorstep of the elegant Crocker Mansion (the three-story house was razed in 1980 by the Elks Club). </p>
<p id="Ojki1T">Angels Flight operated until 1969, when the site where it was located was redeveloped. It was put in storage, then, in 1996, was reassembled and relocated a half-block south. It ran smoothly for a handful of years, but starting in 2001, it was plagued by safety issues. </p>
<p id="rNKMtL">In February of that year, a mechanical failure caused one of the cars to suddenly reverse and accelerate downhill. It crashed into the other car, and one passenger died and seven others were injured.</p>
<p id="7pryGe">The railway reopened in 2010 only to be <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/06/angels_flight_grounded_again_for_safety_fares_could_get_hiked.php">shut down again</a> for an unsafe wheel in 2011. It closed again in 2013, after both cars <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/09/angels_flights_demons.php">went off the rails</a>.</p>
<p id="1Vd6nh">Though the railway has sat dormant for almost four years, a steep staircase runs alongside it, connecting pedestrians from the top of Bunker Hill to Grand Central Market.</p>
<p id="xAEMGD">The cars will run again as the city <a href="http://la.curbed.com/2017/1/5/14178398/angels-knoll-park-hollywood-development-bunker-hill">looks to redevelop</a> the park that surrounds the tracks. The property has been marketed as prime for mixed-use development that would integrate the funicular and Metro station next-door.</p>
<ul>
<li id="CAzJ87">
<a href="https://chorus.voxmedia.com/editor/9ef10e28-a40c-411e-844a-64bfe88359b3">Old footage shows Angels Flight railway in its prime</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
<li id="uIjKpF">
<a href="http://la.curbed.com/2015/8/26/9926962/angels-flight-raising-cash-for-tiny-railyways-pricey-reopening">Angels Flight Raising Cash for Tiny Railyway's Pricey Reopening</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
<li id="PABE9X">
<a href="http://la.curbed.com/2017/1/5/14178398/angels-knoll-park-hollywood-development-bunker-hill">LA moves forward to develop Angel’s Knoll with a building of ‘unlimited height’</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
<li id="vkkNBc">
<a href="http://la.curbed.com/maps/la-la-land-filming-locations">'La La Land:' The ultimate filming location map</a> [Curbed LA]</li>
</ul>
https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14773966/angels-flight-los-angeles-railway-reopenJenna Chandler2016-09-13T10:30:35-07:002016-09-13T10:30:35-07:00Watch crews scrub graffiti off Angels Flight, DTLA's historic funicular
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
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<p>The vandalized railway shines a little brighter now</p> <p id="CBVYv0">Bunker Hill’s Angels Flight railway is graffiti-free once more. <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://esotouric.com/2016/09/13/angels-flight-railway-graffiti-removal/">Esotouric</a> reports that, "the earliest possible Monday morning crew from [the city’s] Graffiti Control Systems" was out yesterday, blasting the graffiti off of the railcar.</p>
<p>Sadly, the super-short, historic funicular across from Grand Central Market <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://la.curbed.com/2016/9/9/12853430/angels-flight-tagged-graffiti">was vandalized</a> last week by taggers. They hit not only the side of one of the cars but also the windows of the 115-year old car that once carried passengers up the old, pre-skyscraper Bunker Hill from Hill and Third streets—about a half block north of its current location. (It was relocated and reopened in its new spot in the 1990s.)</p>
<p id="MpHMpi">The defacement angered many Angelenos, as it should, and it appears that outrage led to quick action. The president of the nonprofit Angels Flight Railway Foundation told Curbed on Friday that the paint would be scrubbed off as quickly as possible.</p>
<p id="ASSQPh">The cleaning was effective, with one caveat, says Esotouric:</p>
<blockquote><p id="Ip1c1n">Enrique, Joel and Ricky [from Graffiti Control Systems] did their best, but unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to treat Angels Flight with kid gloves, and a layer of paint came off with the vandal’s mess. Ironically, this leaves the funicular shining a little brighter today than yesterday—but she’s also more vulnerable, as any further rough cleanings could expose the century-old wood under the paint.</p></blockquote>
<p id="xqTJRx">See the clean-up below.</p>
<div id="uNTliG"><div><div><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vhZRy8oDh-0?wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div></div></div>
<ul id="1xY7M6"> <li> <a href="https://esotouric.com/2016/09/13/angels-flight-railway-graffiti-removal/">Angels Flight Railway graffiti removal</a> [Esotouric]</li> <li id="IS21nB"> <a href="http://la.curbed.com/2016/9/9/12853430/angels-flight-tagged-graffiti">Someone tagged Angels Flight, LA’s favorite tiny railway</a> [Curbed LA]</li> </ul>
https://la.curbed.com/2016/9/13/12903136/angels-flight-graffiti-cleanupBianca Barragan2015-11-24T11:29:11-08:002015-11-24T11:29:11-08:00Metro Not Going to Let Angels Flight Reopen Any Time Soon
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<img alt="Image via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/banyantreeproductions/4039190938">Jordan Katnik</a> / <a href="flickr.com/groups/75129402@N00/pool/">Curbed LA flickr pool</a>" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TpFmIp042g1wfzPZd5ntJkX1CzE=/35x0:604x427/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47856341/4039190938_dcde8030de_z.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Image via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/banyantreeproductions/4039190938">Jordan Katnik</a> / <a href="flickr.com/groups/75129402@N00/pool/">Curbed LA flickr pool</a></figcaption>
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<p>In July, Mayor Eric Garcetti <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/07/angels_flight_reopening.php">asked Metro to look into</a> what it would take to get Downtown Los Angeles's beloved funicular operating again as a fun diversion and lazy way up Bunker Hill. In a report completed last month, they suggest building the emergency evacuation stairway for the railway recommended by state regulators, <a href="http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/angels-flight-may-get-evacuation-walkway/article_cfba7ff4-8fcb-11e5-ab50-832c99143269.html">says the <em>Downtown News</em></a>—that feature has been <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/07/angels_flight_reopening.php">a thorn</a> in the side of the nonprofit Angels Flight Railway Foundation, which runs the funicular; though they have been working on designs for an evacuation stairway, they've said it would be really expensive and not all that effective in getting people off the railway in an emergency.</p>
<p>The state's railway regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, has said that it won't allow people to ride on Angels Flight until an emergency stairway is built. It looks like they're going to win that fight. In a statement to the <em>DN</em>, Metro says "Angels Flight is an L.A. treasure, but it must strictly conform to state and federal safety rules."</p>
<p>The foundation's working on an initial design for the walkway, but says they won't know how much it will cost to build until that design is finalized with the CPUC. (The foundation had been discussing some alternatives to the standard concrete stairway that the CPUC wants—alternatives that the AFRF thought would be more effective, including "a collapsible track that could rise during emergencies"—but ended up scrapping those.)</p>
<p>Money is a big issue for the nonprofit foundation, which has had to pay the funicular's <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/08/angels_flight_raising_cash_for_tiny_railyways_pricey_reopening.php">$50,000-a-year</a> insurance premiums even though there are no passengers riding on the railway. The stairway design project is expected to cost another $31,000. They are currently fundraising to cover the costs of both.<br>· <a href="http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/angels-flight-may-get-evacuation-walkway/article_cfba7ff4-8fcb-11e5-ab50-832c99143269.html">Angels Flight May Get Evacuation Walkway</a> [DN]<br>· <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/07/angels_flight_reopening.php">Mayor Garcetti Trying to Get Downtown's Angels Flight Funicular Reopened ASAP</a> [Curbed LA]</p>
https://la.curbed.com/2015/11/24/9896952/angels-flight-metro-reportBianca Barragan