I am not a train guy, but I started paying attention to the California Zephyr schedule a few weeks ago, because I wanted to meet papersky between trains in Chicago. On her way to Reno the Lake Shore Limited was hours late, they held the Zephyr to hurry the LSL passengers aboard, and so we never got to meet. Maybe on the return trip?

I watched the schedule for the next week or more. The Zephyr was many hours late every day. Apparently there wasn't much slack in the schedule.

On papersky's return, I checked the status all day long. Once again, the estimated arrival time got later and later, so I gave up on going to Union Station at all.

The next morning I got e-mail. They'd been delayed 13 hours; Amtrak had put her up in a Chicago hotel and assigned her a seat on the LSL the following day. Would I like to meet for dinner?

So in the end, we did have a very nice visit. And she boarded the LSL that night for the East; she was to be GoH at a con that weekend.

The next day, the Zephyr derailed (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/08/amtrak-train-derails-in-nebraska-no-serious-injuries-reported.html). I was glad papersky had missed that excitement. Although Hurricane Irene kept Amtrak from delivering her home, at the end of her journey. Greyhound failed her, too. She wound up assembling an ad-hoc group of motorists to get from Albany to Montreal.

Until your post tonight, I had stopped paying attention to the Zephyr again...