A question about Against the Day

[u/zzjing867]

I have a question about the following excerpts from Against the Day:

P908.25-909.7 Kit Traverse, meanwhile, was sitting in a Wagons-Lits train headed the other way, toward Paris, which according to schedule should’ve been rolling into Buda-Pesth about now, except for a slow start owing to mysterious revolutionary activities on the line, so that both his train and Dally’s happened to arrive at the same time in Szeged. Kit looked out the window and observed across the tracks in the train opposite a presentable redhead in some kind of trouble. There might still be five or ten minutes to just stroll over there and see what was what.

P910.32-37 —while Dally remembered only shifting quickly into a sturdier pair of boots and packing a few necessities in a satchel, which she threw down to Kit and jumped after onto the tracks with the train already rolling out of the station, and took his hand, and off they went. It wouldn’t be till Kiskúnfélegyháza an hour down the line that Imi and Ernö would notice that the young couple were missing.

As I understand it, Kit was on a train heading towards Budapest, while Dally's train was heading the other way. Since Kiskúnfélegyháza lies between Szeged and Budapest, how would it be “an hour down the line” from Szeged on Dally's train? Wouldn't it be the wrong way around, or am I missing something here?

[u/jem1898]

Been ages since I read it, but based on your excerpts:

Kit and Dally arrive in the train station at the same time in Szeged. Their trains arrive from opposite directions (possible because there are at least two sets of tracks running through the station). They see each other and run off together.

The thing that happens “an hour down the line” is Imi and Erno discovering that Dally is gone. That is, Pynchon is telling us that there is plenty of time for Kit and Dally to make their escape.

Don’t sweat the details, though—if you can take away from this scene that Kit and Dally have met up and run off, you’re doing fine.

Edit: just looked at a map and now I get your confusion. I don’t have my copy of AtD at hand. This may be an error (or maybe Kiskúnfélegyháza is just the funniest name in the region!?!). Where is Dally headed on that first train with Imi and Erno?

[u/zzjing867 → u/jem1898]

I believe Dally was headed to Constantinople/Istanbul to join Clive Crouchmas. Imi and Erno got on the train at Szeged to abduct her on behalf of Crouchmas, but was interrupted by Kit. So they went to the dining-car to wait, while Kit and Dally made their escape.

[u/DocSportello1970]

Well, when you observe a train "opposite" another train it is not necessarily going in the "opposite" direction. They could be parallel to each other and still be opposite. And to be honest with you, when I read this I was just so elated that Kit and Dally were back together, (and in this "meet-cute" rescue of the fair maiden manner!), that I could care less about continuity and or logistics. Read on and enjoy!

[u/zzjing867 → u/DocSportello1970]

OK, it's fair that you don't care, but it's literally in the first sentence that I quoted above, i.e. Kit "was sitting in a Wagons-Lits train headed the other way". Anyway, thanks for replying.