Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling’s characters shared a tender “La La Land” moment inside an Angels Flight cable car. The real-life Angels Flight is decidedly less romantic. The funicular railway travels 300 feet up Bunker Hill at a thirty-three-degree angle from downtown Los Angeles. Traveled, that is.
The funicular cable cars originally opened in 1901 and ran until 1969. It reopened in 1996, then closed in 2001 after a fatal accident. It has operated off and on since 2010. It suffered a derailment in 2013 and has been out of service since. The trash and graffiti were not visible in the movie scene, purportedly filmed without the knowledge of the L.A. utilities commission. Angels Flight is being renovated and will supposedly open again by Labor Day… not like the Fenelon Place Elevator that has been in continuous service since 1893.
Next time you are in Dubuque Iowa, after you’ve eaten your loose-meat sandwich and breaded pork tenderloin, find your way to Fourth Street and take an excursion on the Fenelon Place Elevator. Don’t worry, the trip will not cause you any digestive distress; it’s a gentle ride. Former mayor and former state senator J. K. Graves built the incline railway in 1882, for his private use to transport him between his home at the top of the hill and his bank downtown. Two years later, he took passengers at a nickel a ride. In the midst of a recession, Mr. Graves gave the newly-formed Fenelon Place Elevator Company the franchise to use the track’s right of way.
It now costs $3.00 round trip for the 296-foot ride up the 189-foot hill. At the top you’ll have a panoramic view of downtown Dubuque and the Mississippi River.
