Happy 110th Birthday, Angels Flight

Today, at Angels Flight in downtown Los Angeles

The Blogger Kid and I took to the rails on Friday -- downtown L.A.'s famed incline railway, Angels Flight. The famous funicular (and its orange cars, nicknamed Olivet and Sinai) is celebrating its 110th birthday on Dec. 31, and we happened to already be downtown a day early, enjoying another round of ice skating at Pershing Square's Downtown on Ice.

Angels Flight is just down the street from Pershing Square -- and leads right to California Plaza, where I was anxious to grab some sandwiches from Mendocino Farms. That's right -- we not only rode Angels Flight for fun, but we actually also used it as a real form of transportation up Bunker Hill.

Angels Flight opened down the street (at 3rd and Hill) from its current location on Dec. 31, 1901. When Bunker Hill was redeveloped in 1969, Angels Flight was shut down -- and kept in storage until 1996, when it was finally reborn in its current location. A tragic accident in 2001 (killing one rider and injuring others) kept Angels Flight closed for another nine years, until reopening again last year.

Tomorrow, in honor Angels Flight's 110th birthday, fares will be lowered to a penny -- the same price as in 1901.

Angels Flight in 1901, photo by Los Angeles Times

Previously on Franklin Avenue:

Uh-Oh: Angels Flight is Grounded (June 2011)

Retro Friday: Angels Flight Edition (April 2011)

Back on Angels Flight, Nearly 10 Years Later (September 2010)

Nine Years Later, Angels Flight Returns to the Rails (March 2010)

I'll Believe It When I See It: Angels Flight To Finally Re-Open (January 2007)

Angels Plight (February 2005)

The Return of Angels Flight (August 2003)