  At low to moderate collision energies where the parton formation time
$\tau_F$ is not small compared to the nuclear crossing time, the finite nuclear
thickness significantly affects the energy density $\epsilon(t)$ and net
conserved-charge densities such as the net-baryon density $n_B(t)$ produced in
heavy ion collisions. As a result, at low to moderate energies the trajectory
in the QCD phase diagram is also affected by the finite nuclear thickness.
Here, we first discuss our semi-analytical model and its results on
$\epsilon(t)$, $n_B(t)$, $n_Q(t)$, and $n_S(t)$ in central Au+Au collisions. We
then compare the $T(t)$, $\mu_B(t)$, $\mu_Q(t)$, and $\mu_S(t)$ extracted with
the ideal gas equation of state (EoS) with quantum statistics to those
extracted with a lattice QCD-based EoS. We also compare the $T-\mu_B$
trajectories with the RHIC chemical freezeout data. Finally, we discuss the
effect of transverse flow on the trajectories.
