diff --git a/shared/src/roadtrip/dayWindow.ts b/shared/src/roadtrip/dayWindow.ts
index d79569a6a..8ba7edb53 100644
--- a/shared/src/roadtrip/dayWindow.ts
+++ b/shared/src/roadtrip/dayWindow.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import type { RoadtripDayBoundary } from './day-boundary.schema';
 import type { SpillChain } from './nightSpill';
 import type { RoadtripDay, RoadtripStop, RoutedLeg } from './planning-types';
 import type { DistanceUnit } from './planning-types';
-import { formatClock, parseClock } from './roadtripModel';
+import { formatClock, hasChosenArrival, parseClock } from './roadtripModel';
 import { formatDurationShort } from './roadtripModel';
 import { formatDistance } from './units';
 
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ export function planDayWindow(
     chain.schedule.entries.push({
       arrival: formatClock(Math.round(arrival)),
       departure: formatClock(Math.round(departure)),
-      anchored: !stop.automaticNight && stop.time !== null,
+      anchored: hasChosenArrival(stop),
       dayOffset: Math.floor(arrival / 1440),
     });
   };
diff --git a/shared/src/roadtrip/nightSpill.ts b/shared/src/roadtrip/nightSpill.ts
index 5e10315be..9c51af731 100644
--- a/shared/src/roadtrip/nightSpill.ts
+++ b/shared/src/roadtrip/nightSpill.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import type { QuietDay, RoadtripDay, RoadtripStop } from './planning-types';
 import type { RouteSegment } from './planning-types';
-import { computeSchedule, parseClock, type Schedule } from './roadtripModel';
+import { computeSchedule, parseClock, type Schedule, hasChosenArrival } from './roadtripModel';
 
 export interface SpillMark {
   automatic?: boolean;
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ export function spillChains(plan: PlanDay[], quietDays: QuietDay[], legFor: LegL
         entries: placed.map((p) => ({
           arrival: p.arrival,
           departure: p.departure,
-          anchored: p.stop.time !== null && p.stop.time !== undefined,
+          anchored: hasChosenArrival(p.stop),
           dayOffset: p.dayOffset,
         })),
         warnings: placed.flatMap((p, i) =>
diff --git a/shared/src/roadtrip/roadtripModel.spec.ts b/shared/src/roadtrip/roadtripModel.spec.ts
index f0a1db319..7b163cfda 100644
--- a/shared/src/roadtrip/roadtripModel.spec.ts
+++ b/shared/src/roadtrip/roadtripModel.spec.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import {
   computeSchedule,
   formatClock,
+  hasChosenArrival,
   formatDurationShort,
   insertIndexForAlong,
   deriveDriveWarnings,
@@ -822,3 +823,27 @@ it('uses checkout as departure even without an arrival or daily start', () => {
   expect(schedule.entries[2]!.arrival).toBe('10:00');
   expect(schedule.entries[2]!.dayOffset).toBe(1);
 });
+
+
+describe('hasChosenArrival', () => {
+  // The rail prints a chosen hour in ink and a computed one in grey. Every scheduler
+  // anchors on `time ?? checkInTime`, so a booked night's check-in is as chosen as a
+  // pinned stop; two of the three used to ask only about `time` and printed it grey.
+  it('counts a pinned time', () => {
+    expect(hasChosenArrival({ time: '09:00' })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('counts a check-in, which is the hour a booked night starts its day on', () => {
+    expect(hasChosenArrival({ time: null, checkInTime: '08:00' })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('leaves a stop the chain worked out alone', () => {
+    expect(hasChosenArrival({ time: null, checkInTime: null })).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasChosenArrival({})).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('never counts a night the planner inserted itself', () => {
+    // Its clock comes from the driving limits, not from anybody's decision.
+    expect(hasChosenArrival({ time: '22:00', automaticNight: { phase: 'end' } })).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/shared/src/roadtrip/roadtripModel.ts b/shared/src/roadtrip/roadtripModel.ts
index 4dc3fd878..efcb9177a 100644
--- a/shared/src/roadtrip/roadtripModel.ts
+++ b/shared/src/roadtrip/roadtripModel.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,22 @@ export function formatDurationShort(seconds: number): string {
   return `${m} min`;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether this stop's arrival is a time somebody chose, rather than one the chain
+ * worked out from the stop before it.
+ *
+ * A check-in counts. Every schedule already anchors on `time ?? checkInTime`, so a
+ * booked night starts its day exactly like a pinned stop does; asking only about
+ * `time` here made the rail print that chosen hour in the grey it reserves for
+ * computed ones. One function because the answer was spelled out separately in each
+ * of the three schedulers, and two of them spelled it differently from the anchor
+ * they had just used.
+ */
+export function hasChosenArrival(stop: { time?: string | null; checkInTime?: string | null; automaticNight?: unknown }): boolean {
+  if (stop.automaticNight) return false;
+  return (stop.time ?? null) !== null || (stop.checkInTime ?? null) !== null;
+}
+
 export function parseClock(value: string | null | undefined): number | null {
   if (!value) return null;
   const m = /^(\d{1,2}):(\d{2})/.exec(value.trim());