Also to be considered, is the end of M of W track work for the winter, which is part of the reason for the schedule padding to begin with. This work has been quite disruptive in the Willamette Valley between Eugene & Salem, OR., the past 2 summers. Often times, the Cascades to Eugene becomes a bus in Portland. While this doesn't affect the Starlight directly, the sidings full of EwePee freights parked until nightfall take away meet points. Perhaps the ballast train shown by Freericks will impact Starlight running times in the Salinas Valley???