On 2 Apr 2006 07:32:45 -0700, "
wrote:

Interesting though the operation will be for spectators, doesn't it
show just what madness was visited on Waterloo when the old lift was
removed - now it seems for the "temporary" visitation of the Eurostar
terminus, soon to be closed and replaced by a shopping centre?

I'm not totally sure where the lift connected to, but I gather it was
to the main line and the Bakerloo line, neither of which would be too
accomodating to another lines' trains in this HSE-concious age.
Rolling stock always seems to be transported by road to
Doncaster/Spain these days, it's rarely done by rail, so they would
still have needed to do the transfer to the low loaders somewhere
nearby. I would imagine that a hoist capable of lifting a tube
carriage would be incredibly expensive to maintain today, so given
it's likely use of two days per decade or so, it just isn't worth it.

Baylis Road closed for a whole week-end - and who knows how many more?
The traffic jams for miles in all directions on Saturday afternoon was
horrible. It took me almost half an hour to get from Waterloo Road to
Elephant & Castle - and I didn't even want to get there!

Well presumably that's why they did it on a weekend and not a weekday.
I should imagine that all the other crane lifts of rails and ballast
etc throughout the refurbishment will use a much smaller crane (did
you see the size of the counterweight on this weekend's photos! eek!)
and there will be much much less disruption.