Norman Wilson#BoringTravel Had I not cancelled my trip to the US, I would have left Toronto on time about an hour ago on VIA train 73 to Windsor, and would probably be eating my business-class lunch by now.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone VIA 73 left London a few minutes early, appears to be running OK on the Chatham sub toward Windsor.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Running along the south shore of Lake St Clair, with several little groups of houses isolated on the water side of the tracks. Always a nice view despite running at 150km/h.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone At this point I would be looking carefully at schedules and actual tracking data for Transit Windsor, to decide whether there's time to take transit across to Detroit or whether I'd better just spend much more money and take a taxi. I'd have to be at Detroit Amtrak by about 1800 (to be safe) for an 1811 departure.
I'd need to catch the Tunnel Bus scheduled to leave City Hall Square at about 1610 to feel safe. Next Tunnel bus is about an hour later: iffy.
At the moment that looks possible.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone VIA 73 arrived eight minutes early in Windsor. I would now be walking to the bus stop, where bus to downtown should arrive in about nine minutes.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone By now I should have made it to the bus stop. Bus is still a few minutes away.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Would be aboard a Transit Windsor Crosstown 2 bus, heading downtown.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Would have got off the Crosstown 2, with Tunnel Bus predicted to depart nearest stop in only four minutes, which is too short--at least a 6-7 minute walk. Let's see whether I'd have made it.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Tunnel Bus is tracking but appears to be sitting in the terminal. That would have been good news.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Tunnel Bus just left City Hall Square. I might barely have made it. Let's fork futures and consider what would have gone on had I made it or had I had to wait for the next one, in an hour.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Earlier Tunnel Bus has cleared customs. I would have got off at Jefferson and Woodward about now, and would probably just have missed a Q-Line streetcar, so I'd be waiting about 20 minutes for the next one.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone In earlier virtual fork, I am now northbound on Woodward aboard a Q-Line streetcar. Or is it Qline or QLine?
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone In later virtual fork, I am now above the hour-later Tunnel Bus, hoping to make it across and out to New Center in time for my Amtrak train.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone In the later fork, I'm off the Tunnel Bus now, and have walked a block to the streetcar stop, where the next car is due in nine minutes. If that's true even the later bus will get me to the Amtrak station with a reasonable margin.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Not that that knowledge is as useful as it could be. It is very likely that by the next time I want to cross from Windsor to Detroit (even if that is later this year) the Tunnel Bus will no longer be running. Dammit.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone My later virtual fork is now aboard a Q-?[Ll]ine car, headed north.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Forks converge: by now, the later fork would be in the Amtrak station.
But where's my train? It should have left Pontiac MI 25 minutes ago, but shows no status.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone Looks like that train only just left Pontiac, 21 minutes late. So the later virtual-fork me had a bigger margin than expected.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone I would now be aboard Amtrak train 355, a Wolverine to Chicago, which left Detroit about 28 minutes late.
#BoringTravel #IfIdGone I'd have arrived in Battle Creek 43 minutes late, and would about now be checking into my hotel a few blocks from the station. Good night and good luck.