That's what I've been doing, always saving during the career under a different name each time. Usually I just name it for the quadrant I'm in, e.g., AM19 or AM19_01, etc...
I don't know why I didn't think of trying to load a previous save under the same career when the crashes happened....sigh...
I'll definitely try the tips you fellows have provided - many thanks!
Cheers,
Scott