Angels Flight Railway, Los Angeles

Just a short distance from the famous Grand Central Market is one of LA's most enduring (and beloved) landmarks, the Angels Flight Railway. This whimsically-named funicular bills itself as "the world's shortest railway". Indeed, it can take you up and down a steep incline between Hill Street and Olive Street, nice and easy, in just a minute or so, which is still enough to put a silly smile on your face, being much fun, albeit, admittedly, of a shorter duration.

The narrow gauge cable railway has only two carriages, endearingly named Sinai and Olivet – roughly from the same era as San Francisco's cable cars – which travel on an almost continuous loop.

The railway first opened on New Year's Eve in 1901 and quickly became a popular mode of transportation. It was originally designed to serve the Bunker Hill district. With its stately Victorian mansions, Bunker Hill was one of LA's very upmarket neighborhoods, and the area's elite residents apparently rode down on Angels Flight to shop for their groceries in Grand Central Market's open-air arcade.

In those days, the well-heeled Bunker Hill residents paid only a penny a ride. Today, the ride costs $1 each way – payable upon alighting at the terminus, which is still a true bargain for a nice piece of history.

In 1912, the"Angels Flight" name (which was originally displayed at the Hill Street entrance archway) became official, and by the 1950s the railway had carried over 100 million passengers already! The count of them to date has been lost...

The railway was closed and dismantled in 1969 due to large-scale development in the area, but was later restored and reopened in 1996. However, tragedy struck in 2001 when a derailment occurred, causing one of the cars to plummet down the track and kill a passenger. After an investigation, the railway was shut down again and remained closed for several years.

In 2010, the historic railway was once again restored and reopened, and today remains in operation.