Angels Flight

Angels Flight. . , Flight of the Angels , As the trombones played on New Year's Eve in 1901, two wingless angels took flight, screeching their way to fame as the stars of the world's "shortest railway." "Olivet" and "Sinai," two black-trimmed, cream-colored wooden cars named for two hills in the Holy Land, chugged at a stately pace, journeying 325 feet on a 33% grade. The tiny two-car incline named "Angels Flight" was open for business, and its business was hauling the wealthy residents of the fashionable Victorian hilltop neighborhood down to the flatlands and back up again, 400 times a day, 18 hours out of every 24, seven days a week. , A Penny to "Heaven" , Less than six months after work began, Eddy's railway opened at Third and Hill Streets, one penny each way. For those who preferred to hoof it, or couldn't afford the fare, Eddy built 207 steps on the north side so that no one could claim he had a profit-making monopoly on the ascent. An observation tower was built at the upper end, the Olive Street terminal, and became known as "Angels Rest." This rickety 100-foot tall tower afforded a panoramic view of the burgeoning city. But after a decade, the rotting timbers used in building the Third Street tunnel below made the ground start to sink. (Although the tower was reinforced, it soon became too dangerous to climb, and by 1938 it was taken down). , B.P.O.E. , In 1909, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. "99" built its headquarters atop Bunker Hill, just in time to host the Elks' national convention. To help lead the way to the new digs, the Elks paid for a red beaux-arts arch and colonnade over the "Angels Flight" Hill Street entrance. The initials "B.P.O.E." were carved into the archway to direct visiting lodge members to the hilltop convention. , Ups and Downs , Renovated in 1913, the system continued its ups and downs, catering to society matrons who descended with butlers in tow to carry their heavy packages from Grand Central Market, which had opened in 1917 as the neighborhood's only full-service grocer. , Civil War Hero , Its creator, Col. James Ward Eddy, was a Civil War hero and a friend of Abraham Lincoln's, a former schoolteacher, a lawyer, an Illinois state senator and an engineer. Weary of politics, he had pulled up stakes and headed west. He found Bunker Hill and its mansions to be an island of privilege isolated from the shops and commerce below. He conceived the plan of linking the hilltop paradise with the street by means of a counterbalanced funicular. , A Few Years... and Three Decades Later , In 1935, when the city planned to widen Hill Street and replace Angels Flight with a nondescript municipal elevator, Angelenos protested. The city backed down for more than 30 Years, until 1969, when the colorful cars (by then repainted in Halloween orange and black) were dismantled, along with the tracks they ran on. The hilltop terminal stood in the way of urban renovation and the crop of skyscrapers that would sprout atop Bunker Hill. , City officials swore that Angels Flight would be back in "a few years." But a few years became three decades , a long time to wait for the next lift to come along. Encumbered by bureaucratic delays, official excuses, red tape, real estate squabbles and money woes, Angels Flight's uphill battle to restoration finally ended in 1996, when the Community Redevelopment Agency got the cars rolling again. , The tracks were relocated a half-block south of the original path, and , in a city eager to hold on to its past and revive its urban life , Angels Flight and its soaring course have become the most visible and beloved form of public transportation in the City of Angels.