Jackal, thank you for trying to understand my post, which I'm afraid is confusing because *I* am confused. And to make life even harder for everyone, I started out asking questions halfway through my itinerary, so to speak.

I've been squinting at on-line maps of San Jose and working with trip planners like 511.org. From these, I got the impression that San Jose Didiron is a huge transit centre, where Caltrain, Thruway buses, and the Amtrak trains meet (more or less: Caltrain on the map looks to be a few blocks away (???) Especially since Amtrak says their San Jose station is at 65 Cahill st., while 511.org proposes three alternative locations for San Jose : San Jose Didiron Transit Center (which shows tracks); San Jose Didiron Caltrain, and Caltrain San Jose Didiron/Cahill San Jose.

So I got the impression that if I timed my Caltrain arrival with at least a half-hour or more to spare on the outbound run, I'd have time to run to Amtrak and pick up the Thruway bus. **(Anyone care to hazard an estimate of commuting time??) **

Meanwhile, on the reverse trip, the Thruway would deliver me directly to Amtrak- more or less. You tell me the San Jose Amtrak station isn't that large, so I should make it from the bus to the train if I'm nimble. (Thinking about it I realize that Amtrak presumably designed the bus-train connection to allow reasonable time to connect, and over a fairly short distance, although after some European experiences, I'm wary.....)

You are of course right: a true round trip is Oakland-Salinas-Oakland: I was trying a 'multi-trip' itinerary which allows San Jose-Salinas-Oakland. As you say, if Amtrak allows me to book it (haven't got quite that far yet) it should be okay. Especially since the aforesaid timetable also claims that 'dedicated feeder' Thruway buses can be used to connect with not just Amtrak trains but 'other trains' such as Caltrain and Metrolink. Separate tickets for Caltrain, etc. would have to be bought, of course, so presumably one just saves one's Caltrain ticket/receipt to use in the event of argument. (along with a printout of the timetable rules.) But if what you say is correct, the definitive answer would be if Amtrak allows me to book the itinerary.

If it doesn't, presumably I can book a (true) round trip Oakland-Salinas-Oakland and just throw away the Oakland-San Jose portion: I'm hoping :

****Question: **** Amtrak isn't as fussy as airlines are about 'coupons being used in sequence'. - ?Rather, as long as I pay, which seems to be the underlying theme of these rules (get enough revenue for the system) I should be okay - ??


By the way, is this system really as complicated as it seems? Should I be sending California FTers who have to regularly use it a bottle of Scotch apiece, in sympathy?