SHORTEST RAILROAD IN THE WORLD

Year Published: 1901

Format: 16mm

Description: This short, silent film shows the famous Los Angeles Angel's Flight in operation at its original location. It was known as the "shortest railroad in the world." Built in 1901 with financing from Colonel J.W. Eddy, as the Los Angeles Incline Railway, Angels Flight began at the west corner of Hill Street at Third and ran for two blocks uphill (northwestward) to its Olive Street terminus. Angels Flight consisted of two vermillion "boarding stations" and two cars, named Sinai and Olivet, pulled up the steep incline by metal cables powered by engines at the upper Olive Street station. As one car ascended, the other descended, carried down by gravity. An archway labeled "Angels Flight" greeted passengers on the Hill Street entrance, and this name became the official name of the railway in 1912 when the Funding Company of California purchased the railway from its founders. The original Angels Flight was a conventional funicular, with both cars connected to the same haulage cable. Unlike more modern funiculars it did not have track brakes for use in the event of cable breakage, but it did have a separate safety cable which would come into play in case of breakage of the main cable. It operated for 68 years with a good safety record. The only fatality that involved the original Angels Flight occurred in the autumn of 1943, when a sailor attempting to walk up the track itself was crushed beneath one of the cars. The railway was closed on May 18, 1969 when the Bunker Hill area underwent a controversial total redevelopment the funicular was rebuilt and reopened on February 24, 1996, half a block south of the original site. Although the original cars, Sinai and Olivet, were used, a new track and haulage system was designed and built. The new Angel's Flight suffered two major accidents, one of them fatal. Angels Flight remains closed pending resolution of problems identified by the NTSB. PeriscopeFilm 702K subscribers Videos About Support Us on Patreon PeriscopeFilm Visit our website "YOUR CHILDREN'S TEETH" 1940s DENTAL CARE HYGIENE FILM DENTIST, BRUSHING & FILLINGS 91344 by PeriscopeFilm PeriscopeFilm Visit our website Patreon Support us! Created using YouTube Video Editor

Complete Record: This short, silent film shows the famous Los Angeles Angel's Flight in operation at its original location. It was known as the "shortest railroad in the world." Built in 1901 with financing from Colonel J.W. Eddy, as the Los Angeles Incline Railway, Angels Flight began at the west corner of Hill Street at Third and ran for two blocks uphill (northwestward) to its Olive Street terminus. Angels Flight consisted of two vermillion "boarding stations" and two cars, named Sinai and Olivet, pulled up the steep incline by metal cables powered by engines at the upper Olive Street station. As one car ascended, the other descended, carried down by gravity. An archway labeled "Angels Flight" greeted passengers on the Hill Street entrance, and this name became the official name of the railway in 1912 when the Funding Company of California purchased the railway from its founders. The original Angels Flight was a conventional funicular, with both cars connected to the same haulage cable. Unlike more modern funiculars it did not have track brakes for use in the event of cable breakage, but it did have a separate safety cable which would come into play in case of breakage of the main cable. It operated for 68 years with a good safety record. The only fatality that involved the original Angels Flight occurred in the autumn of 1943, when a sailor attempting to walk up the track itself was crushed beneath one of the cars. The railway was closed on May 18, 1969 when the Bunker Hill area underwent a controversial total redevelopment the funicular was rebuilt and reopened on February 24, 1996, half a block south of the original site. Although the original cars, Sinai and Olivet, were used, a new track and haulage system was designed and built. The new Angel's Flight suffered two major accidents, one of them fatal. Angels Flight remains closed pending resolution of problems identified by the NTSB. PeriscopeFilm 702K subscribers Videos About Support Us on Patreon PeriscopeFilm Visit our website "YOUR CHILDREN'S TEETH" 1940s DENTAL CARE HYGIENE FILM DENTIST, BRUSHING & FILLINGS 91344 by PeriscopeFilm PeriscopeFilm Visit our website Patreon Support us! Created using YouTube Video Editor