Angels Flight Announcement Nice to Hear, but Doesn't Give Any Answers

I had a similar suspicion when reading the piece. My impression is Mr. Welborne is adament against the takeover and this is his salvo in the public relations war.

Reading the NTSN report on the original accident one finds blame for the mishap directed at the CRA, various consultants and contractors and even the L.A. Conservancy. They all failed Mr. Welborne who worked so hard to bring back Angels Flight and has found fundraising difficult in the aftermath -- http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2003/RAR0303.pdf

The most amusing aspect of the article is the fact that the Los Angeles Times ran it at all...

"Breaking News: Angel's Flight is set to re-open someday."

Oh. Wow. Thanks.

If this is true -- the railroad is going to re-open this summer -- that is good news. I think it is not widely understood how useful Angels Flight is/was. Years ago, I lived at Broadway & Third and used the funicular all the time. It is an absolutely vital connector between Bunker Hill and historic downtown. I'd use it all the time to get to MOCA and the Music Center. Many vendors and restaurants in the market told me how they were adversely affected by its closure. People who worked on Bunker Hill would use it to travel down and back up the hill. For a while, a bus was set up to replace it. But, that was not successful.

I always remember sitting on the patio on Hill Street and you could see tourists getting off the train and wandering into the market. Like clockwork. Incidentally, the little area around that patio is a real oasis in downtown. Angels Flight definitely enlivened it as a great urban space.

Angels Flight, as pointed out in the article, also serves a vital purpose of getting people up Bunker Hill. Given it is right next to the Pershing Square station, it makes getting up to Grand Avenue. That hike up is truly daunting. Without this kind of connector, Bunker Hill is pretty isolated and epitomizes the L.A. drive-in/drive-out destination.

Lastly, I was out for a walk last night and I noticed the scaffolding surrounding the entrances was removed. No cars on the tracks though. Not sure how long this has been the case.

Also, I wish they bring back the bouganvilla which used to occupy the lower part of the hill beneath Angels Knoll Park and Angels Flight. I also miss the wild flowers which used to bloom here every spring. The juxtapositioning of the wild flowers and the old-fashioned train and the modern buildings painted a lovely scene. Seems like the vegetation was cleared out some time ago and it is definitely not an improvement.

So why didn't it open and when are they planning to re-open it? The message on the Angels Flight phone number still says summer, 2007.

Actually, the main post sounds like exactly why it didn't re open. I wasn't sure if it had or not, and was in the area for jury duty the last couple of days and was kinda looking around for it (not exactly sure where it was) and wondering if it was open again yet or not. Guess I'm glad I didn't find it, in that case.

Thanks for your kind comments last January, Mr. Gabbard. And, thank you, Ms. Massengill, for reminding us to update the tape on our telephone. Mr. Gabbard’s concerns about money last January actually were unfounded, by the way. As I’ll describe below, the Angels Flight Railway Foundation is close to completing the Campaign for Angels Flight! (We’d, of course, like blogdowntown reader support in doing that.)

I can understand Mr. Richardson’s frustrations last January. However, he should feel full of good cheer at all the news we now can report. (And, as readers of the daily press probably know by now, Metro has NO interest in taking over the always-privately-operated -- since 1901-- Angels Flight Railway. The issue WAS studied, but that approach was rejected.)

In fact, the private fund-raising for the Angels Flight restoration has been extremely successful because there are so many generous Angelenos. Of the unexpected $3.3 million that the directors and supporters of the Angels Flight Railway Foundation suddenly had to raise after the tragic 2001 accident (a dollar figure that could not even be properly quantified until 2003), all but the last 10% (about $315,000 to go!) has been raised. Please send YOUR contributions to help close out the Campaign for Angels Flight to:

Angels Flight Railway Foundation

Bunker Hill Post Office Box 712345

Los Angeles, California 90071

Your contributions are tax-deductible and will be acknowledged. Donor benefits are available, and you may e-mail the Foundation, in care of me, John H. Welborne, President, at angels-flight@sbcglobal.net, with additional questions or offers to help in this community undertaking. Please be understanding if we are a bit slow in responding because we now are very busy.

Readers will be interested to learn, I believe, that Angels Flight is being restored with a traditional funicular cable system. A continuous cable, that wraps round bullwheels, will connect the two cars. The new Drive has been manufactured and will be installed shortly.

Further information, including drawings and photographs, will be forthcoming in December. Our Foundation's directors share the frustration of our neighbors and visitors who wish to see the Railway back in operation. However, we said we would not reopen the Railway until it is completely safe to do so.

As readers may (or may not) know, the litigation concerning the tragic 2001 accident was not finally ended until September 22, 2006 (just a bit over one year ago). As announced at our press conference in January of 2007, adequate funds to proceed had been secured, and designers and the manufacturer were under contract in January. Those vendors have been busy doing their jobs for the past ten months!

For example, we are nearly finished with the work of reattaching the wheels and adding new rail brakes to the two cars. As noted, the Drive construction is complete.

The reason there is so much progress on the cars and that the Drive has been designed and built is because generous DONORS have made that possible.

I’ve said recently, and it bears repeating: “Although funicular technology from the nineteenth century is simple, rebuilding an historic funicular in the middle of an urban area in the twenty-first century is quite complicated. Please trust me on that.”

The little Railway (and the Railway's current stewards) thank Angels Flight’s supporters for their help.

-- John

Hey - I've read and read and read. Is there any way on God's green earth to find out if it is OPEN AND RUNNING NOW???

Is there any chance that that a responsible party in LA transportation sector will take over Angels Flight

and have some competent and accountable party in the public sector running it, maintaining it..

for the public good rather than a opportunity for another round of fund raising for an organization which has been stringing downtown along for almost a decade?