Angels Flight
Los Angeles
Angels Flight is a small, steep railway from 1901 on the side of Bunker Hill. Its caretakers call it the shortest railway in the world.
A shortcut up the hill
In the early 1900s Bunker Hill was an elegant neighborhood, with large houses at the top of the hill. Walking up was tiring. In 1901 engineer James Ward Eddy opened this little railway, just one block long. The name Angels Flight means "flight of the angels": going up really felt like a little flight. Back then, there were many elegant houses at the top of the hill.
Two cars that help each other
The two little cars, Sinai and Olivet, are tied together. When one goes up, the other comes down and helps it like a counterweight. They meet halfway, where the tracks spread apart to let them pass.
A new spot
Today the railway stands half a block south of where it began. The little cars are the original ones, with their names: Sinai and Olivet. In 1962 the railway became one of the city's first historic monuments.
Just like in 1900
The cars and the two stations look the way they did long ago, with elegant decorations. Next to the tracks there is a public staircase for anyone who prefers to walk.
