Angels Flight Los Angeles

On October 9, 2008 I observed the two Angels Flight incline cars mounted on a flatcar in what I believe is the former ATSF First St. Yard (or what's left of it) in Los Angeles, immediately north of the 4th St. bridge. The AF cars were mounted in the correct inclined position, with the high ends together at the center of the flatcar and the opposite ends sloping downward toward the ends of the flatcar. Both AF cars appeared to be freshly painted in the traditional orange and black as though being returned from wherever they were rehabbed, and I am wondering whether this means that something is actually happening here at long last. Does anyone have any information about where this whole thing stands?

ExCon90

You appear to be more up to date than the rest of us. I usually check with the manager of the parking lot next door, and he keeps telling me that they are working on it, but the cable system is still in question. At any rate it is nice to know that Sinai and Olivet are doing well. As far as I know The Welbourne company is still in control of the situation. I have e mailed them occasionally and have yet to receive an answer. You might try your luck with them.

Are those the original cars from the 30's-40's ?

As far as I know they are the original cars from the opening of the line in the early 20th century--the same ones that were stored when the line was removed from its original alignment immediately south of 3rd St. (sometime after WW2).

ExCon90

The Los Angeles Times reports that Angels Flight resumed operation on Monday, March 15.

Yup, can't make it this week. I'll get there next week.

pennsy wrote:Yup, can't make it this week. I'll get there next week.

That's sooner than I will. Would you post a report?

Very interesting operation. Was there an NTSB report on the accident in 2001?

joshuahouse wrote:Very interesting operation. Was there an NTSB report on the accident in 2001?

I found some information at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2003/RAR0303.htm, consisting of a news release from 2003 and what appears to be a Power Point presentation for the board (I'd link it if I knew how).
Some excerpts from the Power Point presentation:

Investigative Areas
. Splines sheared within gearbox
. Emergency brakes were nonfunctional
. Cars not equipped with back-up stopping system
. State regulator and railway owner allowed passenger operation with known safety concerns

Emergency Brakes Nonfunctional
. Failed to apply during accident
. Inoperative solenoid
. Inoperative as designed [!]
. Non-failsafe as implemented

From the news release: "The original re-design of the railway submitted by Parsons [Brinckerhoff] called for emergency track brakes, end gates on the cars to contain passengers, and an elevated walkway to assist in emergency evacuations. Disagreements based on historical accuracy and feasibility of the safety features resulted in their elimination from the final design." The last sentence of the news release states "[t]he complete report will be available in about six weeks," but I haven't located it.

Rode Angels Flight today. Still only twenty five cents a ride. Ride is now smoother, and you can see the cables are heftier than before. Cars are the same as before, and nice and clean. Rode Sinai going up. That Swap Meet at Pershing square seems to have gotten a lot bigger.

Thanks for the report; hope nothing else happens before October.

The Angels Flight Railway was featured in the show Biggest Loser on yesterday's episode. I'd never heard of it before. Pretty interesting looking incline railway. The cars, from what I could tell on the show, look beautiful. Unfortunately, the scene was shot at night so it was dark.