It looks like 52(30) is operating, which would have been be the trip, other than 53(30), to annul to get the sets back in sync quickly. Load factors here at the start of summer travel season may be high enough that Amtk didn't want to annul any trips at the last minute. You're right, it will take several days of pushing hard to get the schedule back to normal.
You would have to believe that passengers on the delayed northbound had Amtrak's famous (infamous?) Mystery Stew for lunch and dinner? I wonder though if hotel accommodations were provided to passengers as well for the very late train. It is conceivable that if the train was 12 hours late some unlucky passengers would not receive their vehicle until around 11:00 PM. That could be a long drive home for some at an ungodly hour.
It's likely that not all the A-T regular crews are qualified over the S-Line since they almost never operate over there. Plus, the additional mileage via Selma-Raleigh-Columbia would cut into any possible time savings. Your memory is correct, though, the A-T has rerouted via Raleigh before, including one REALLY rare instance where 53 detoured onto the NS at Wilson (yes, Wilson) due to a mainline derailment in the Selma-Smithfield area. There's some rare mileage for you!
I saw him mention that, but I read "annul for a day" as involving both trains (52/53). I was wondering if they could just pick the least-sold trains in the next few days and zap one of the directions a few days out instead of both.
Not so relaxing for passengers, however.
