µ-Blog – Film Noir Icon to Be Resurrected by Labor Day

µ-Blog – Too long to tweet, too short to call a real post

Today, it was announced that the Angels Flight funicular railway will reopen by Labor Day. Angels Flight was built in 1901 and ran until 1969. Plagued by accidents in the last couple of decades, Angels Flight has been operational only for relatively short periods of time, only to be closed again, due to accidents and safety concerns. Most recently, Angels Flight has been dormant since 2013, when a derailment left a passenger shaken but unhurt.  

A group of engineering and transportation companies has agreed to maintain and operate railway and pay for required safety upgrades in exchange for a share the Angels Flight revenue over the next three decades. 

Fans of Film Noir will recognize the iconic railway from its appearance in a number of classic films in the 1940s and 1950s, including Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Criss Cross, and Kiss Me Deadly. While the reopening will not be in time for the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF), barring mishaps, it will definitely be up and running for next year's TCMFF.

Angels Flight in its original location near Third Ave tunnel;
shot from Kiss Me Deadly