Court Flight Funicular... The lesser know cousin of Angeles Flight... Conceived by residents of Bunker Hills northern reaches as a way to boost property values, Court Flight connected the civic center with the otherwise inaccessible neighborhood perched above. The neighborhood--sometimes referred to as Court Hill--lay between First and Temple streets above Hill Street, which tunneled underneath the homes. The hill no longer exists; today it is the site of the Stanley Mosk Memorial Courthouse and Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. Promoted as the shortest railway in the world, Court Flight opened in 1905 and ascended 200 feet of hillside at a grade of 43 degrees--steeper than Angels Flight. The uphill fare was 5 cents; downhill was free. In early years, Court Flight catered to sightseers, advertising 100-mile views of the ocean and flatlands below. In its later years, Court Flight shuttled courthouse workers between their jobs and inexpensive hilltop parking. The funicular operated for 39 years, but World War II spelled its doom. Low ridership depressed profits, and the railway struggled to find engineers and conductors in the wartime labor market. In 1943, unable to keep the line profitable, owner Annie Vandegrift closed Court Flight. It would never reopen. from KCET...
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 05:02:27 +0000
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