By DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press Writer
Posted: 03/15/2010 01:46:39 AM PDT
Los Angeles - Angels Flight, the downtown Los Angeles funicular that shut down nine years ago after a deadly accident, is set to resume service with modern braking technology never envisioned when it opened in 1901.
Operators of the so-called "Shortest Railway in the World" said they will begin ferrying passengers up and down Bunker Hill on Monday at 6:45 a.m.
Service halted in 2001 after a rail car broke loose, rolled backward and smashed into another car, killing an 83-year-old man and injuring seven others. Federal investigators concluded that faulty mechanical and brake systems were to blame.
The newly restored railway features a computerized braking system and other safety features approved last week by the California Public Utilities Commission.
Lower Station - Northeast Elevation.(Photographer: Jack E. Boucher - October 2, 1960)
These "Angels Flight" photographs are from the Historic American Buildings Survey collection at the Library of Congress. Information on LOC Index Card prepared by A. Lewis Koue, National Park Service in 1964 reads as follows:
Lower Station - East Elevation.(Photographer: Jack E. Boucher - October 2, 1960)
History: Built in 1901 by Colonel J.W. Eddy to serve the residential area of Bunker Hill. The last remaining cable railway, although licensed as an elevator, in Los Angeles.
Upper Station - West Elevation.(Photographer: Jack E. Boucher - October 2, 1960)
Description: Two-block long line operating by cable traction on three rails except where the two cars pass and here they switch onto two double tracks. Counter-balancing cars utilized to augment power energy for operation of system.
