Jean

After the tiny railway's upper station made a cameo appearance in "La La Land" (the latest in a long list of movie credits), the city was shamed into getting the beloved cars Sinai and Olivet back to shuttling people up and down the 298 feet of Bunker Hill in DTLA. Grand Central Market is at the bottom of the hill. MOCA, The Broad and Disney Hall are near the top. Operations resume Thursday, August 31st. Yay!

http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/76d166372a...usa-dw6yxa.jpg

marvelousmouse

Omg, I missed it by only a few weeks! That's exciting though!!

mlgb

Yay!

maitaitom

Obviously, I'll have to do an update. If my gimpy legs gets better I'll get down there this weekend.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/angels-flight-los-angeles/

suze

Very exciting news. Thanks for posting. I grew up in Los Angeles and remember it fondly.

Jean

suze, on the night of my high school senior prom, several of us walked from the Biltmore to take pictures at AF because it was being dismantled the next week. I remember the promises it would be re-installed in a couple of years. It didn't re-open for 27 years! Lying SOBs.


Take a 3D tour of Olivet and the upper station:

http://craigsauer3d.com/3d-model/angels-flight-railway/
[Click on Floor 1, Floor 2 at the bottom of the screen.]


Thank you, Damien Chazelle!

suze

I spent one summer in the mid-80's living at the Biltmore Hotel on an architecture job. Wow was that ever fun!

Jean

Oh wow! Although the 1980s weren't good years for DTLA, I can only imagine what living in the Biltmore would have been like. I worked at One Wilshire in the 1970s, and my dentist was in the Pacific Mutual Building. I loved drinking a glass of wine in the Biltmore lobby after work and feeling very "fancy." The hotel appeared often in "Mad Men," most memorably to me when Betty Draper walked down the lobby stairs

If you remember the Yorkshire Grill on 6th Street, it finally closed after almost 70 years. The Yorkshire, Casey's Bar, Cole's, Clifton's and the Oviatt Building (all within a couple of blocks of the Biltmore) also made appearances in "Mad Men."

suze

Thanks Jean. It was a very special summer and unique opportunity.

I had a car with me and parking at the hotel paid for, so was able to get around like to the old Farmer Market (pre-Grove), Fairfax, Dupree dance studio for classes, Olvera Street, Chinatown, Tar Pits, Griffith Park, etc.

We (Seattle staff on assignment) lived on the various guest room wings as they were being remodeled. My firm was doing the common spaces, ballrooms, restaurants, so our offices were back-of-the-house along with catering and those kind of hotel functions.

LOVE that staircase!

sf7307

Jean, my mom ate st Cliftons when she visited LA with her dad during WWII - probably 1944.

Love Angels Flight - such a charming city icon. Losing it permanently would have been terrible.

mlgb

I worked downtown from 1987 until 2002, part of it around the Civic Center and then part near the World Trade Center.

I got to experience a lot of the highlights over 15 years...Laker Parades, the Popemobile, Tunneling for the Red Line, reconstruction of the Central Library after the fire and construction of the new Library Tower and "Spanish Steps", the first "reopening" of Angels Flight in 1996.

When I was near the WTC we rode it down to the Bradbury Bldg for lunch. My 6'6" friend smacked his forehead and broke one of the overhead light bulbs inside one of the cars...I hope they put a metal cage over them this time!