2754 Angels Flight Fans Can't Be Wrong

Gentle reader...

Our favorite Los Angeles neighborhood, pre-redevelopment Bunker Hill, no longer exists. But one deliciously cool relic of that lost Victorian aerie survives: Angels Flight Railway. Riding the rails in one of the neat orange and black cars is the greatest time travel trip we know.

Unfortunately, Angels Flight has been stalled since suffering a minor derailment in September 2013. But even stationary, it's a beloved local landmark. Angelenos eagerly awaited its return to service. And waited some more.

In July 2015, after one of the cars was vandalized, we were compelled to petition Mayor Eric Garcetti to step in and broker a deal between the small non-profit that operates Angels Flight, and its regulator, the California PUC.

Fixing this was not the Mayor's job. But it was plain that somebody had to help get things moving. And as more and more people signed and shared the petition, a thousand in the first hours, our native Angeleno Mayor recognized how deeply his fellow citizens felt about their historic funicular, and instructed Metro to produce a study on the matter.

Weeks passed, then months. Angels Flight grew dusty and cobwebbed. More vandals came, this time with spray cans. Nothing that couldn't be fixed, but it was demoralizing. Would Angels Flight ever soar again?

Our friends at the Angels Flight Foundation told us to have faith and be patient, that gears were turning behind the scenes. Turn faster, gears, we muttered. (We're pretty good at having faith, but patience is hard for Kim.)

And then yesterday afternoon, the press and public were invited to gather at the base of Angels Flight for a "special announcement." And to the delight of all present, the Mayor came through with an unconventional solution, bringing a new private operator together with Metro, the non-profit and the city to broker a deal that the PUC has approved. Angels Flight will roll again by Labor Day!

Big thanks go out to the 2754 passionate Angels Flight fans who signed the petition with such eloquent declarations, and dozens of folks in and out of city government who saw a prickly problem and pulled together to preserve a landmark. We hope you'll join us, and many of them, on Labor Day to take that time travel trip to old Bunker Hill for yourself!

We're on the bus on Sunday with a (sorry, sold out) Batchelder tile tour with the Pasadena Museum of Art. Next Saturday, it's Eastside Babylon, the darkest crime bus tour in our quiver. Join us, do!

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RECENTLY TOURED

Perhaps the most beautiful of the California missions, San Miguel Arcangel.

LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 4/23

Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State Los Angeles under the direction of Professor Donald Johnson to explore the history and future of American forensic science. On April 23, 2017, join us for From The Crime Lab To The Coroner's Office, an afternoon of historic murders and modern day investigation techniques. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. Click here to reserve.

RECOMMENDED READING

Want to know more about this Angels Flight Railway that everyone's talking about? Then pick up this illuminating history from her Edwardian origins to noirish (first) decline and long-promised renewal, Jim Dawson's Los Angeles's Angels Flight, a companion to Los Angeles's Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction's Mean Streets and Film Noir's Ground Zero!

COMING SOON

EASTSIDE BABYLON - SAT. 3/11... Go East, young ghoul, to Boyle Heights, where the Night Stalker was captured and to Evergreen, L.A.'s oldest cemetery. To East L.A., where a deranged radio shop employee made mince meat of his boss and bride in the shadow of the world's biggest tamale. To Commerce, where one small neighborhood's myriad crimes will shock and surprise. To Montebello, scene of a horrifying case of child murder. That's Eastside Babylon, our most unhinged crime bus tour. (Buy tickets here.)

PASADENA CONFIDENTIAL - SAT. 3/18... The Crown City masquerades as a calm and refined retreat, where well-bred ladies glide around their perfect bungalows and everyone knows what fork to use first. But don't be fooled by appearances. Dip into the confidential files of old Pasadena and meet assassins and oddballs, kidnappers and slashers, black magicians and all manner of maniac in a delightful little tour you won't find recommended by the better class of people. (Buy tickets here.)

HOTEL HORRORS & MAIN STREET VICE - SAT. 3/25... Through the 1940s, downtown was the true city center, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost. This downtown double feature tour is meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core, and is especially recommended for downtown residents curious about their neighborhood's neglected history. (Sold out with waiting list. More info here.)

THE LAVA SUNDAY SALON & BROADWAY ON MY MIND WALKING TOUR - SUN. 3/26... Our free cultural lecture series recently relaunched on the basement level of Grand Central Market with a walk to follow. This month, our focus is the endangered architectural and cultural landmark Parker Center. Come explore this mid-century Welton Becker masterpiece while you still can! Free, reservation required.

ECHO PARK BOOK OF THE DEAD - SAT. 4/1... New on our calendar, a crime bus tour meant to honor the lost souls who wander the hills and byways of the "streetcar suburbs" that hug Sunset Boulevard. See seemingly ordinary houses, streets and commercial buildings revealed as the scenes of chilling crimes and mysteries, populated by some of the most fascinating people you'd never want to meet. Featuring the Hillside Strangler, the Bat Man's Love Nest and a visit to Sister Aimee Semple McPherson's exquisite Parsonage, now a museum. (Buy tickets here.)

PALOS VERDES: ANCIENT AND MODERN - SAT. 4/8... On this Special Event tour celebrating our 10th anniversary as a tour company, join us on a deep dive into coastal California lore. From the Spanish Colonial Revival romance of Malaga Cove to Paul R. Williams' jazzy 1960s SeaView tract homes, from Frank Lloyd Wright associate Aaron G. Green's organic architecture to evidence of ancient plantations, you can expect the unexpected and a delightful cast of guest speakers. Sorry, no discounts accepted on this Special Event tour. (Learn more and buy tickets here.)

THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA - SAT. 4/15... Join us on this iconic, unsolved Los Angeles murder mystery tour, from the throbbing boulevards of a postwar Downtown to the quiet suburban avenue where horror came calling. After multiple revisions, this is less a true crime tour than a social history of 1940s Hollywood female culture, mass media and madness, and we welcome you to join us for the ride. This tour always sells out, so don't wait to reserve. (Buy tickets here.)

FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR AT CAL STATE LOS ANGELES - SUN. 4/23... Professor Donald Johnson hosts "From The Crime Lab To The Coroner's Office," featuring author Brad Schreiber's historic crime research and an introduction to crime scene investigations. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. (Buy tickets here.)

Additional upcoming tours: Charles Bukowski's L.A. (4/22), Raymond Chandler's L.A. (4/29), Blood & Dumplings (5/6), Hollywood! (5/13), Weird West Adams (5/20), Special Event: Crawling Down Cahuenga: Tom Waits’ L.A. (6/3), Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice (6/10) and Special Event: Desert Visionaries: Llano del Rio, Antelope Valley Indian Museum & Aldous Huxley’s Pearblossom Ranch (6/17).

OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST

Back from hiatus! In Episode #116: Miracle Mile and a Mid-Century Master, we talk with land use consultant Bill Christopher about Wilshire Boulevard and with architect-historian Alan Hess about Aaron G. Green's mid-century organic architecture. Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!

AND FINALLY, LINKS

On our April 8 Palos Verdes tour, we'll visit the landmark Anderson House, which you could win in an auction.

Video vault: Nathan Marsak’s LAVA Sunday Salon & walking tour on Lost Romanesque Los Angeles.

More on the board shake up at Adamson House. We agree with new leadership that deferred maintenance is the #1 problem facing this landmark.

Kudos to LAPL’s photo collection, honored for the Valley Times preservation project.

A timely reminder that Lummis House desperately needs a good steward empowered to restore and interpret this great house.

Troubled to see LA city councilmember Jose Huizar (who voted to demolish it) claim “Parker Center is not one of architect Welton Becket’s best works.” Architectural historians disagree—strongly!

Before putting a bid down on this Millionaire's Row mansion, take our Pasadena Confidential tour to hear how it was abused by daffy later owners.

An interesting perspective on Measure S.

Dozens of hard-boiled items from the Estate of Mickey Spillane come on the block next week in Texas.

An uncertain future for the wildest Egyptian-Googie bowling center in Southern California, or anywhere.

So many good people leaving the newly-sold Los Angeles Magazine (1961-?). Please don’t change everything!

yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric