Elusive Angels Flight Set to Get Its Rail Cars

By Ed Fuentes
Published: Thursday, October 30, 2008, at 02:41PM

Ed Fuentes [Flickr]

Ken Johnson and Jim Toomey work on the lower portion of the Angels Flight site.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The elusive Angels Flight appears set to make its grand entrance. Ken Johnson and Jim Toomey were at work on the funicular's tracks today, and say that the two cars should be moved to the site tomorrow and testing should begin shortly.

In Curbed's report, Angels Flight foundation head John Welbourne says that engineers were testing the cable drive and performing track work today.

Those involved hope to have the short railway up and running sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The two cars -- Olivet and Sinai -- have most recently been stored at the Metro Red Line yard in the Arts District.

Angels Flight was first put into service in 1901, rising adjacent to the 3rd Street Tunnel. It was dismantled in 1969 and rebuilt in its current location as part of the California Plaza development. Reopened in 1996, the service operated for five years until a fatal accident closed the line.

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Comments

skidrowdude writes:

That's great news Ed! I've been wanting to ask what's up with this for awhile... we need Eric's downtown Q & A so I can ask those types of questions.

Can't wait to ride it!

# on Oct.30.2008 AT 03:10 PM

boredkitty writes:

I will believe this when it actually happens. Every time they say it will be reopened, another delay occurs and the public is left waiting. For years now they have been "working" on the railway, but other than the bright orange paint, I have yet to see any signs of a reopening.

# on Oct.30.2008 AT 03:13 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

boredkitty: If you go to the top and look inside the station house, there is new drive equipment that's been installed in the last year.

John Welbourne has been very consistent in saying that things were moving forward, but getting the new cars in place would be a huge step toward making that something people can see and believe.

# on Oct.30.2008 AT 03:19 PM

Juanito writes:

In it's first eight years of operation, the flight featured open air trams. I don't know if these were named Olivet and & Sinai, but they were fabricated where Phillipe's now is located, what then was Ralph Bailey's Artistic Brass and Iron Works.

One wonders what happened to them after the 1910 reconstruction.

# on Oct.30.2008 AT 04:10 PM

Senorlargo writes:

I still may die of old age before this happens. Also, as I recall, the 1901 version of Angels Flight crossed Clay Street at grade. In 1902, the line was rebuilt on a trestle. At that time, the original cars, which were too small, were replaced.

# on Oct.31.2008 AT 02:20 PM

Joel C writes:

Senorlargo: that may have been the other downtown funicular, Court Flight. That funicular ran along Court Street, which was a diagonal street in the Civic Center, roughly where the Court Of Flags now stands.

However, I'm no expert, and I could be wrong.

# on Oct.31.2008 AT 03:42 PM

senorlargo writes:

Court Flight ascending from Broadway to top of Pound Cake Hill opened in 1904. It was parallel to First Street (Tom Bradley) about 300 feet to the north. It fell victim to WWII when they couldn't hire anyone to operate it due to the war effort. It closed down in 1943. The cars were later sold to a private party in Woodlandhills.

There were other incline railways: One on Mount Wahington, another at Playa del Rey and a third on Catalina Island. Today there is one at Industry Hills Golf Course and maybe one at Magic Mountain in Valencia.

# on Oct.31.2008 AT 10:28 PM

Juanito writes:

The Los Angeles Incline Railway was originaly constructed in the fall of 1901. Exactly when it became known as Angels' Flight is uncertain. I have a postcard picturing the flight dated 1906 and it is labelled as Angels' Flight. Whatever, it was reconstructed to include the trestle and wooden cars in 1910. In the photo division of the Library of Congress, one can find a section containing landscape panoramas. These are all approximately 180 degree wide-field photos taken in various cities around the U.S. A few were taken in downtown L.A. a century ago. One was taken from the high observation tower above the flight. The center of the view looks down Third Street. I can provide a PDF of the image for anyone who may wish to receive it. Just message me: publisher@Visions-of-L-A.com

# on Nov.01.2008 AT 02:22 AM

Bill Bauer writes:

It is a shame that "Progress" has robbed the people of L.A. and her visitors of this wonderful, historic experience. I hope we are moving beyond just returning the cars. This tragedy is an example of over zealous engineering attempt to "upgrade" something workable with a "Clever" high-tech solution that led to disaster. Sometimes our College Educated people of brilliance seem to be compelled to make there mark like my dog tagging a fire hydrant. Put the cars back on opposite ends of the same rope and make it work.

# on Nov.01.2008 AT 10:02 AM

nanorich writes:

Hmmm..

still not open.

How could the city let this go on this long?

# on Apr.03.2009 AT 06:20 AM

patrick smith writes:

I remember going to Magic Mountain the first year it was open , and rode something called Angels Flight . It had two old cars and fit the description of the Angels Flight in Los Angeles . Was this THE Angels Flight relocated or something similar . It was located at the bottom of the sky tower . Anybody else remember ? - Pat

# on Apr.06.2009 AT 02:50 AM