Angels Flight

Re “Probe, and Preserve, Angels Flight,” editorial, Feb. 4: It was not the 19th century-style technology that you said went wrong in the accident; it was the 20th century technology that failed when they tried to improve the original design. If they had used the original “bull wheel” (a great big pulley) for a continuous cable to go around and connect the cars in a positive, noncolliding manner, this accident could not have happened. Instead, the engineer who “improved” on the original design decided to use two separate cable drums that wound two separate cables on the drums. So when the cable came off one drum, the motion of that car became uncontrollable.

PAUL DIEGES

Civil Engineer

Perris