The crux is the first 40' of the climb. Start up a chimney then move into a nice crack system. The second and third pitches follow the crack system up to lunch ledge. From lunch ledge climb the crack to the runout 5.4 friction slab (1 bolt).
A great moderate (of which there are many) at Tahquitz that features fun climbing up a corner system and a very exposed finish on the upper slab.
The name is a take-off of Angel's Flight, the "World's shortest railroad".
By Bill Olszewski From: Colorado Springs, CO Jul 9, 2007 rating: 5.6
Fun climb! I thought the steep section of P1 (P2 in the guidebook) was the crux. Got off-route up high but figured it out and finished with the fingertip "lieback" crack. Nice!
The steep face climbing after the chimney felt the toughest part of the climb - deciding whether to go left or right. Went right and it might have been a little harder that way + rope drag got bad. Dihedral pitch is super easy and the roof is easier than it looks. For those leaving lunch ledge the first time, could be helpful to get beta from someone while you are there if you want to do the 5.3 slab finish instead of the crack.
This was a lot of fun and one of the first routes I ever led, so I learned some lessons here. As mentioned by others, Pitch 1 (Pitch 2 in the Vogel/Gaines guidebook) after the chimney does present a little route-finding opportunity, or it did for me.
The topo, route description, chalk marks, and old fixed gear are useful guides. But in the end being alert to the rock, looking around, thinking ahead, and developing a picture of the route when your vision affords is better. I earned myself a little downclimb from trying to treat this route like a Joshua Tree chalk railroad.
I'll echo some of the other commentators again: bring plenty of slings, and plan your placements to minimize rope drag. There's nothing like rope drag to turn a 5-nothing topout on smooth slab into a nightmare as having to fight your body weight in rope friction with only your own poor planning to blame :/
All things considered, though, a worthwhile and memorable route!