Guess what I’ll be looking for when I next visit La-La Land…
You missed the one at Canon City. Cincinnati & Pittsburgh used to be full of those.
Thanks for bringing that to my attention, if I ever get back West, I’d love to check that out.
I found some pictures here:
Sounds just like the one in Dubuque, IA…
EDIT: After checking out The Butler’s pic link, it’s not the same. Angel’s Flight has about three times the passenger capacity.
In Pittsburgh, we refer to them as inclines and enjoy having two operating on a daily basis. The Monogahela and the Duquesne Inclines. They both give spectacular views of the city and are well used.
Tom
Oh, I know they’re around–and a couple of years ago we rode both the one in Johnstown and the one at Horseshoe Curve. I was on one or two of the Pittsburgh inclines when I was very young (they have only the two now, but I think they had more back then).
Cincinnati’s Inclines: http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/incline-mtadams2.html
(The Price Hill Incline must have been a hoot) These were a little more successful than the subway that was never finished in the 1920’s. About every 15-20 years, somebody in Cincy proposes putting the Price Hill or Mt. Adams inclines back.
Say,
Do you think Annette Funicello ever took the funicular to Funiculi, Funicula?
GROAN!
They let Annette on, but not her funny cello.
Has anyone of you ridden, or even seen, the Incline up Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga? That’s the only one I’ve ridden.
I saw it (at least) in 1962. We also “Saw Rock City”. I can’t remember whether our family rode the incline or not.
In my home town (Grand Haven, Michigan), there were three or more privately-owned inclined railways to get the cottage owners at their top end to and from the beach level. I only ever saw one of them actually moving. I’m sure that one is still there, but can’t vouch for the existence or condition of any more.
Did you see any real barns when you were in the area? Fifty or so years ago, a barn was not a “real barn” if it did not have a Rock City advertisement on it. In all my trips to Chattanooga in the late fifties, I never got to Rock City, though I drove up and down Lookout several times.
Oh, yes…those barns, and the birdhouses. I think the advertising is what persuaded us to have a look. After that trip, we noticed one of the birdhouses along the highway in Muskegon, which is even north of where we lived.
As an aside the song was written for the opening of a long closed funicular on the side of Mount Vesuvius near Naples in Italy. The city itself still has four funiculars, with three (Centrale, Montesanto and Chiaia) being he main means of transport from the Vomero district down to the city centre and bayside areas (there are no direct roads).
Very well used too, and the Centrale’s the only one I’ve ever used that has non-stop journeys as well as ones stopping at the, in this case two, intermediate stops. Service on all runs every ten minutes through most of the weekday and every 15 Sundays.
Pittsburgh from the Duquesne Incline
While poking around downtown Los Angeles about three summers ago, I not only discovered the site of the Angels Flight Railway, but about a block west on 3rd St. (near 3rd and Olive) is the building that once housed the Pacific Electric Railway’s downtown subway terminal. Then, embedded in the sidewalk, were brass letter spelling out the words SUBWAY TERMINAL BUILDING.