On July 11th, I'm going to be taking Amtrak from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to the Newark Airport station. I bought a ticket on Amtrak's web site for the 8:31 A.M. departure from Bridgeport (actually a generic "unreserved" ticket), but then when I booked my flights from L.A. to Newark, I ended up with a return flight for which the 8:31 train would get me to Newark way too early.

So I had to change my departure from Bridgeport to the 9:31 train, which is a train that requires reservations. I needed the services of an Amtrak agent to change the ticket, which meant taking a trip to the Amtrak station in Van Nuys.

And let me tell you, the woman at the station was obviously delighted to be dealing with something other than selling tickets for the Amtrak trains that actually serve Van Nuys, or having to tell people that they have to buy Metrolink commuter train tickets from the Metrolink vending machine. She gave me a handful of luggage tags, a system timetable, and the "Amtrak Vacations" travel planner.

Original comments...

Jeremy: But no phone number?!?!?

Jim: She's a little old for me, if that's what you're implying.

Brian: Wait... why are you gonna be in Bridgeport?

Jim: My cousin is getting married on the campus of Fairfield University. (I'm actually staying in Trumbull, at the Marriott there.)

And I'm going to be in New York for a few days before that. E-mail me or IM me sometime.

Brian: You make it sound like I HAVE your IM. ^_^

is your train from Bridgeport #2151, all reserved Acela train, arriving at Stamford at 7:59 AM? If so, it's usually late. ^_^

Jim: My IM is trainmanplus, via AIM or iChat.

I'm traveling on Sunday morning, and I'm pretty sure that train is weekdays only. It's also a little too early for me. I'll be on Train 195, which departs Bridgeport at 9:31 A.M. and arrives Newark Airport at 11:27 A.M. Then I have a flight back to L.A. at 2:00 P.M.