The little train that could: ‘La La Land’s railroad chugs back to life

LA’s beloved little railroad, had its cameo in the hit musical

and now it’s almost ready for its close-up.

The narrow-gauge railroad that for more than a century hauled people 298 feet (90 metres) up and down the city’s steep Bunker Hill was shut down in 2013 after a series of mishaps, including a crash that killed a rider.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Mayor Eric Garcetti said those issues are being resolved and the railroad’s antique wooden cars, named Sinai and Olivet, should be back in service by Labour Day, September 4. They’ll be operated by a public-private partnership between the non-profit Angels Flight Foundation and the private company ACS Infrastructure Development.

“As anyone who has seen La La Land can tell you, dreams do still come true here in Los Angeles,” Garcetti said exuberantly as dozens of cheering Angels Flight fans crowded together with reporters to hear his announcement just outside the railway’s bottom-ofthe-hill station.

The railroad’s resurrection has been planned for months, but it may have gotten an unexpected boost when moviegoers saw Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling riding happily in one of the cars in La La Land. —AP