Funicular

In the middle of Los Angeles, California, I was surprised to see a rail car that takes people down a  steep hill. There are two orange cars that travel on the same tracks and pass each other as one goes up and one comes down. The Funicular in Los Angeles has been around for one hundred and seventeen years, though it was out of commission for a few years.

A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, Is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other. Funiculars of one sort or another have existed for hundreds of years and continue to be used for moving both passengers and goods.

I felt as if I was at an amusement park as I rode the small car with about fifteen other persons down the steep hill. The good thing is that it saved us a few blocks of walking. After visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art, we walked to the small orange building to buy tickets for the Angels Flight ride.

My granddaughter and her friend from Canada sat across from me as we slowly moved down the hill.
It was fun being tourists while on vacation!

"The camera makes

everyone a tourist..."

Susan Sontag