@devonpowell, that looks like a pretty good workaround. This limitation has made my company become more selective when deciding which columns remain in the schedule. For instance, almost all of our physical dimensions have gone away since we model these elements very closely to the actual equipment. Additionally, we've combined some fields and grouped under a common header like what's shown below. This can really buy a lot of space with temperatures (if you can use abbreviations like EWT, LWT, EAT, LAT). I think you could squeeze your schedule down to one without much sacrifice.
All that said, this is a silly limitation.
On a slightly different topic, how did you create the general notes and specific notes? Something like "Insert" a row below the title, and merge accordingly? Or did you use some other magic?