These days, the Angels Flight funicular railway shuttles riders between Olive St at the top and the station at the bottom situated between 3rd and 4th St in downtown LA. But when this photo was taken, Angels Flight was in its original location at 3rd Street. It’s still quite a steep ride, but these days, it doesn’t run right next to a bunch of apartment buildings so close that passengers could look into strangers’ living rooms. This photo was taken some time in the 1960s, when it was on its last legs (or wheels, as the case may be.) It closed in 1969 ahead of the redevelopment of Bunker Hill and didn’t reopen in its new (and current) site until 1996.
Gary H. says: “The track is at a 33° incline. Originally the second half of the track was even steeper before they built the wooden trestle in 1905!”
I rode Angels Flight many times as a child when I lived on Bunker Hill before redevelopment. Yes, part of the fun of riding was the opportunity to look into the windows which were little vignettes of domestic life. But for a kid Angels Flight was a great thrill ride. It looked like the cars were going to hit head on only to lurch past one another at the last minute, missing by inches. Also, the pass happened at the depth of the cut out of the 3rd Street tunnel. If you were going downhill on the left hand side, it looked like you were going to be launched out over the precipice only to be saved by the miracle of 19th Century engineering. And, you had all that adventure for a nickel.
Loved your comment; thanks for that!
I recently read “Ask the Dust” by John Fante. His first-person narrator lived in a residence hotel next to Angels’ Flight in the late 1930s. Interesting descriptions of downtown L.A. of that era.
Big fan of John Fante. Have read all his books. He reflects a Los Angeles (and other locations) that is hard to imagine, even for someone who remembers some of what he describes, like me.
Yes, easy and hard in different ways. I will read more Fante.
I’m still haunted by the last images of Camilla.
I, too, have read a couple John Fante books! Paula, you may be interested that a movie was made of Ask the Dust in 2006, written and directed by Robert Towne (Chinatown). It’s not a great film, but has more interest to those of us who know the book and an interest in Los Angeles, so, in that sense, it’s worthwhile.
No, I didn’t know. Thanks, Martin! I’ll look for it.
Even if movie versions are not so good I enjoy seeing how the books are visualized by others. I found this a very easy to visualize book — even though he was wandering around places I didn’t see until more than 30 years later.