Hooray.

I called the automated Amtrak number to check on train status - I have about a 2 h 30 min. drive to the station so if it's waaaaaay late it's a good thing to know. I told them "Fort Worth" as the station I was checking on because (a) the train should be a lot closer to Fort Worth right now than it is to Mineola and (b) sometimes the automated system doesn't "understand" the smaller town-names. (They once thought "Mineola" was "Minneapolis").

Well, the automated voice said, "Due to a service disruption on the line, I am transferring you to an agent."

My heart sank. What that would mean is either the train was hours upon hours late - like, it would pull in to Mineola at 3 am instead of 5 pm - or that it had to be cancelled altogether, and even IF I could get a roomette in a later train, it would be tomorrow at the earliest.

I breathed deeply, reminded myself quickly that no matter how bad it was, it was NOT the agent's fault, if he or she could magically fix it, they would, and I needed to be nice to him or her even if I was going to start to cry.

Well, I got a lady agent, explained the situation. "I don't see any disruption at Mineola, but let me check" she said.

I sat and listened to a few moment's worth of The Cars' "It's Magic" (Haven't heard that since high school, I think). She came back.

"Ma'am...they're taking passengers off at Fort Worth and turning the train around. It will be on time at Mineola."

What a wonderful thing to hear. Apparently the service disruption will not affect me, and although I feel bad for the people who are stuck in the Arizona desert or who are being bused from Killeen, I'm very happy that I can hop in my car around 2:30, start driving, and look forward to a nice dinner on the train and a nice quiet compartment to read in.

So I thanked the lady for taking the trouble to check, wished her a good day...and now I'm ready to go on vacation.