diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 749fc6f56..534725023 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 **A merge the pre-merge verify accepted no longer freezes the queue, and a slot stamp touches only the stamp files.** Train 24 (2026-10-27) merged #3434 and #3453, then froze on #3453's post-merge check and paid a $31 backstop: the pre-merge verify judged the lane's CHANGELOG as main's plus the pin's own entry and said MERGE_CONDITION, the post-merge check compared main to T2 section by section, and T2's one `[Unreleased]` (both stacked entries) had become two released sections. In both slots `gstack-restamp` also listed `lib/ship-policy.ts` as a fifth stamp file, because the lane's uncommitted base merge made #3511's `DOCS_CAPS_KEY_VERSION` look like the branch's own tentative key. And `mergeChangelogs` refused the stacked child outright, so the lane's hand resolve dropped #3453's two wording fixes to the released 1.91.276.0 entry.
 
 ### Fixed
-- **`gstack-ship-queue verify --train`** (`lib/ship-queue-train-verify.ts`): one CHANGELOG rule before and after the merge. Post-merge, main confirms when its tree is T<i> modulo stamps, or differs from T<i> in the CHANGELOG alone while being its own first parent's CHANGELOG (the main the pre-merge verify saw) plus the PR's own entry, the rule `mergedIn` applied pre-merge; the `main:` line says "except CHANGELOG.md, main <sha12>'s CHANGELOG.md plus #<n>'s own entry". The own lines are the pin's authored CHANGELOG lines or the lines `mergeChangelogs` writes for that pin against main, so a tool-written correction bullet passes. A freeze lists a slot GitHub reports MERGED as merged (its reason says "merged on GitHub without a verified tree"), never under `unmerged`, so the rebuild after the repair does not seat it again; the record is built from the one GitHub read that decided to freeze, so a slot that read MERGED stays merged when GitHub stops answering a moment later, and a slot unreadable beside a merged one is kept out of `unmerged` and named in the reason ("unreadable on GitHub, kept out of unmerged until read"); and a first slot GitHub reports MERGED whose squash fails the post-merge check freezes the queue instead of answering "nothing of the train merged" while main already holds the unverified squash; when GitHub's answer for a slot cannot be read, the verify refuses (`QUEUE_PROOF_MISSING`, "whether #<n> merged on GitHub could not be read") and asks to be rerun, never "nothing merged". A main whose CHANGELOG equals its parent's is not "the parent's plus the PR's own entry" (`ownEntryAboveMain`: "no entry of the PR's own above it"), so a squash that lost the entry the gate carried is refused.
+- **`gstack-ship-queue verify --train`** (`lib/ship-queue-train-verify.ts`): one CHANGELOG rule before and after the merge. Post-merge, main confirms when its tree is T<i> modulo stamps, or differs from T<i> in the CHANGELOG alone while being its own first parent's CHANGELOG (the main the pre-merge verify saw) plus the PR's own entry, the rule `mergedIn` applied pre-merge; the `main:` line says "except CHANGELOG.md, main <sha12>'s CHANGELOG.md plus #<n>'s own entry". The own lines are the pin's authored CHANGELOG lines or the lines `mergeChangelogs` writes for that pin against main, so a tool-written correction bullet passes. A freeze lists a slot GitHub reports MERGED as merged (its reason says "merged on GitHub without a verified tree"), never under `unmerged`, so the rebuild after the repair does not seat it again; the record is built from the one GitHub read that decided to freeze, so a slot that read MERGED stays merged when GitHub stops answering a moment later, and a slot unreadable beside a merged one is left out of `unmerged` and named in the reason ("unreadable on GitHub, left out of unmerged; seat it in a train by hand once gh pr view answers"), so the `NEXT:` after the repair omits it; and a first slot GitHub reports MERGED whose squash fails the post-merge check freezes the queue instead of answering "nothing of the train merged" while main already holds the unverified squash; when GitHub's answer for a slot cannot be read, the verify refuses (`QUEUE_PROOF_MISSING`, "whether #<n> merged on GitHub could not be read") and asks to be rerun, never "nothing merged". A main whose CHANGELOG equals its parent's is not "the parent's plus the PR's own entry" (`ownEntryAboveMain`: "no entry of the PR's own above it"), so a squash that lost the entry the gate carried is refused.
 - **`gstack-restamp` stamp_paths** (`lib/restamp.ts`): a line the base added since the pin's fork point is the base's, whether the base merge is committed or still staged; `branchAddedLines` leaves it out and the stage detail says "N line(s) the base added since the fork point are the base's, not this branch's, and stay (<file>: N)". #3514's receipt bound (`stampOnlyLine`) refuses such a move after the fact only while the moved version is older than the base's at the build; a key at the base version passes it, so the restamp is the guard. A base diff git cannot run is a refusal ("cannot diff <since>..<base> for the stamp_paths stage"), never an empty "nothing added" set that would move the base's lines again.
 - **`mergeChangelogs`** (`lib/changelog-check.ts`): a stacked child whose parent squash-merged and was released since the merge base (`carryReleasedParent`) is a merge, not a hand resolve. The parent's lines leave the child's `[Unreleased]`; each line the child changed inside them becomes `- Correction to the <version> entry below: "<old>" should read "<new>".` (a dropped line "no longer applies", a line added between the parent's "Addition to the <version> entry below") under the child's own `### Gate integrity`, appended to one it already has. The released entry stays main's byte for byte. Without the merge base the shape is GSTA-67's dropped heading and stays null. `mergeChangelogsWithNotes` returns the carried corrections; the slot one-liner in docs/ship-policy.md prints them. `mergeStep` (train build) passes the merge base, so a child of an already-released parent seats; from slot 2 on, where the prefix already holds an earlier slot's `[Unreleased]` and the sections are unioned, the union takes the carried child, so the gated tree never repeats the released parent's text under the child's heading.
 
diff --git a/docs/ship-policy.md b/docs/ship-policy.md
index 2f24ee4cf..ecc0d28a1 100644
--- a/docs/ship-policy.md
+++ b/docs/ship-policy.md
@@ -624,7 +624,9 @@ freezes the same way, since main already holds the unverified squash. The
 record comes from the one GitHub read that decided to freeze, never a second
 one: a slot that read MERGED stays merged even when GitHub stops answering
 before the record is written, and a slot unreadable beside a merged one is
-kept out of `unmerged` and named in the reason until it can be read. When
+left out of `unmerged` and named in the reason; nothing reads it again, so
+the `NEXT:` after the repair omits it and the operator seats it in a train by
+hand once `gh pr view` answers. When
 whether a slot merged on GitHub cannot be read, verify refuses
 (`QUEUE_PROOF_MISSING`, "whether #<n> merged on GitHub could not be read")
 and asks to be rerun once `gh pr view` answers; an unreadable state is never
diff --git a/docs/troubleshooting.md b/docs/troubleshooting.md
index eded67d2d..2043a0a38 100644
--- a/docs/troubleshooting.md
+++ b/docs/troubleshooting.md
@@ -4352,9 +4352,11 @@ the repair's rebuild never seats it again), main's tree and the backstop run
 dispatched on main's SHA. The record is built from the one GitHub read that
 decided to freeze: a slot that read MERGED stays merged even when `gh pr view`
 stops answering a moment later, and a slot whose state could not be read when
-another slot had merged is kept out of `unmerged` and named in the reason
-(`#<n> unreadable on GitHub, kept out of unmerged until read`), so the
-rebuild after the repair never seats a PR that may already be in. The
+another slot had merged is left out of `unmerged` and named in the reason
+(`#<n> unreadable on GitHub, left out of unmerged; seat it in a train by hand
+once gh pr view answers`), so the rebuild after the repair never seats a PR
+that may already be in; nothing reads that slot again, so the `NEXT:` after
+the repair omits it and the operator seats it by hand. The
 freeze lives in local state and on `refs/notes/gstack-trains`. Ordinary
 trains and other trains' merges are refused until a repair lands.
 
diff --git a/lib/ship-queue-train-verify.ts b/lib/ship-queue-train-verify.ts
index 5cf30b561..cb206c1f7 100644
--- a/lib/ship-queue-train-verify.ts
+++ b/lib/ship-queue-train-verify.ts
@@ -114,8 +114,9 @@ function published(env: TrainEnv, t: TrainRecord, i: number, main: string): { sa
  * anything remote, then the backstop gate is dispatched on main's sha.
  * `states` is the one GitHub read of every unverified slot, made by the
  * caller: a slot that read MERGED is merged, verified tree or not, and a slot
- * that could not be read is left out of `unmerged` and named in the reason,
- * so the rebuild after the repair never seats a PR that may already be in.
+ * that could not be read is left out of `unmerged` and named in the reason
+ * (nothing reads it again; the operator seats it by hand once gh answers), so
+ * the rebuild after the repair never seats a PR that may already be in.
  */
 async function freezeQueue(env: TrainEnv, t: TrainRecord, reason: string, mainSha: string, states: ReadonlyMap<string, string>): Promise<FreezeRecord> {
   const now = nowIso();
@@ -127,7 +128,7 @@ async function freezeQueue(env: TrainEnv, t: TrainRecord, reason: string, mainSh
     schema: 1, kind: 'freeze', repo_key: env.repo.key, train: t.nonce, merged: [...t.merged.map(m => m.pr), ...landed],
     unmerged: unverified.filter(s => !landed.includes(s.pr) && !unreadable.includes(s.pr)).map(s => ({ pr: s.pr, head: s.head })),
     main: { sha: mainSha, tree: git(env.ctx.repoRoot, ['rev-parse', `${mainSha}^{tree}`]).out },
-    reason: [reason, landed.length ? `${prs(landed)} merged on GitHub without a verified tree` : '', unreadable.length ? `${prs(unreadable)} unreadable on GitHub, kept out of unmerged until read` : ''].filter(Boolean).join('; '),
+    reason: [reason, landed.length ? `${prs(landed)} merged on GitHub without a verified tree` : '', unreadable.length ? `${prs(unreadable)} unreadable on GitHub, left out of unmerged; seat it in a train by hand once gh pr view answers` : ''].filter(Boolean).join('; '),
     backstop: null, repair: null,
     created_at: now, cleared_at: null, cleared_by: null, updated_at: now,
   };
diff --git a/test/ship-queue-train.test.ts b/test/ship-queue-train.test.ts
index 7aa71fd8b..7a2a8538f 100644
--- a/test/ship-queue-train.test.ts
+++ b/test/ship-queue-train.test.ts
@@ -1069,6 +1069,22 @@ describe('verify, freeze, repair and clear', () => {
     expect(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(fx.state, 'ship-queue', 'freeze', `${repoKey(fx)}.json`), 'utf8'))).toMatchObject({ merged: ['1'], unmerged: [{ pr: '2', head: h2 }] });
   }, 300_000);
 
+  // Value: protects=a slot unreadable on GitHub beside a merged one is left out of unmerged and named in the reason, so the rebuild after the repair never seats a PR that may already be in; fails_when=freezeQueue files an unreadable slot under unmerged, or drops it without naming it; why_new=the test above keeps slot 2 readable; seam=the fixture's gh pr view vanishing for slot 2; no_claim=the backstop's outcome
+  test("a slot unreadable on GitHub beside a merged one is left out of unmerged and named in the freeze reason", () => {
+    const fx = make();
+    const { nonce } = twoPrTrain(fx);
+    expect(queue(fx, ['train', 'verdict', '--train', nonce]).status).toBe(EXIT.ok);
+    const t = trainJson(fx, nonce);
+    const coord = coordinatorClone(fx.repo);
+    const smuggled = fx.repo.git('show', `${t.prefixes[0].commit}:CHANGELOG.md`).replace('# Changelog\n', '# Changelog\n\n## [1.2.4.0] - 2026-10-18\n\n- #1 change\n- added after the gate\n') + '\n';
+    publishMain(fx, t.prefixes[1].commit, '1.2.4.0', { file: 'CHANGELOG.md', text: smuggled });
+    fx.write(d => { (d.prs['1'] as any).state = 'MERGED'; d.vanish = { '2': 0 }; });
+    const frozen = queue(fx, ['verify', '--pr', '1', '--train', nonce], {}, coord);
+    expect(frozen.status).toBe(EXIT.fail);
+    expect(line(frozen.out, 'freeze:')).toMatch(/; #1 merged on GitHub without a verified tree; #2 unreadable on GitHub, left out of unmerged; seat it in a train by hand once gh pr view answers; unmerged \(none\); repair none admitted$/);
+    expect(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(fx.state, 'ship-queue', 'freeze', `${repoKey(fx)}.json`), 'utf8'))).toMatchObject({ merged: ['1'], unmerged: [] });
+  }, 300_000);
+
   // Value: protects=a post-merge CHANGELOG difference is excused only when main's parent is T<i-1> modulo stamps, so a foreign commit between the verified head and the squash freezes; fails_when=published() skips or inverts the parent check; why_new=the two tests above reach the CHANGELOG rule only with a parent that is T1 modulo stamps; seam=none; no_claim=a parent differing from T1 in the CHANGELOG alone
   test("a post-merge CHANGELOG difference is not excused when main's parent is not the verified prefix modulo stamps: the queue freezes naming the parent", () => {
     const fx = make();