Steve,
Interesting point.
Meridian cross occurs between C1 and C2 east of Columbia all the way to the east coast near Charleston.
Meridian cross occurs during totality between Colombia Missouri and Boonville. a ~40km stretch.
Meridian cross occurs between C3-C4 between 10km west of Casper Wyoming to Boonville Missouri.
Note that an azimuth polar misalignment of ±5 degrees in the wrong direction increases the region of totality flip to a 400km stretch from Kansas City to St Louis. Likewise polar misallignment extends the partial eclipse zone. Anyone in the totality flip zone could, with care, purposely misalign their polar axis by a few degrees to avoid the totality flip.
I have two EQ mounts. One is my own design built in 2001 the other is a Starlapse. Both are driven but not goto. I back myself to be able to find the sun if I'm having a good day
. Both drives and flips are under my control and can drive well past the meridian without collisions.
Joe