diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/Transport.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/Transport.java
index e5e531918b..ab99e20cc2 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/Transport.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/Transport.java
@@ -142,6 +142,11 @@ public interface Transport extends Service {
      */
     boolean isDisposed();
     
+    /**
+     * @return true if the transport is connected
+     */
+    boolean isConnected();
+    
     /**
      * reconnect to another location
      * @param uri
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/TransportFilter.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/TransportFilter.java
index 1b87824e61..b58f71f8a9 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/TransportFilter.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/TransportFilter.java
@@ -129,6 +129,10 @@ public class TransportFilter implements TransportListener, Transport {
 	public boolean isDisposed() {
 		return next.isDisposed();
 	}
+	
+	public boolean isConnected() {
+        return next.isConnected();
+    }
 
 	public void reconnect(URI uri) throws IOException {
 		next.reconnect(uri);
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/TransportSupport.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/TransportSupport.java
index 0ab5e24401..13876047bf 100644
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/TransportSupport.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/TransportSupport.java
@@ -115,5 +115,9 @@ public abstract class TransportSupport extends ServiceSupport implements Transpo
 	public boolean isDisposed() {
 		return isStopped();
 	}
+	
+	public  boolean isConnected() {
+	    return isStarted();
+	}
 
 }
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/failover/FailoverTransport.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/failover/FailoverTransport.java
index 3ccaa1565c..f0579269e3 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/failover/FailoverTransport.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/failover/FailoverTransport.java
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ public class FailoverTransport implements CompositeTransport {
 
     private TransportListener transportListener;
     private boolean disposed;
+    private boolean connected;
     private final CopyOnWriteArrayList<URI> uris = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<URI>();
 
     private final Object reconnectMutex = new Object();
@@ -182,6 +183,7 @@ public class FailoverTransport implements CompositeTransport {
                 failedConnectTransportURI=connectedTransportURI;
                 connectedTransport = null;
                 connectedTransportURI = null;
+                connected=false;
             }
             reconnectTask.wakeup();
         }
@@ -211,6 +213,7 @@ public class FailoverTransport implements CompositeTransport {
             }
             started = false;
             disposed = true;
+            connected = false;
 
             if (connectedTransport != null) {
                 transportToStop = connectedTransport;
@@ -593,6 +596,7 @@ public class FailoverTransport implements CompositeTransport {
                             }else {
                                 LOG.info("Successfully reconnected to " + uri);
                             }
+                            connected=true;
                             return false;
                         } catch (Exception e) {
                             failure = e;
@@ -669,14 +673,17 @@ public class FailoverTransport implements CompositeTransport {
 	   return false;
    }
 
-public boolean isDisposed() {
-	return disposed;
-}
-
-public void reconnect(URI uri) throws IOException {
-	add(new URI[] {uri});
-}
-
-
+    public boolean isDisposed() {
+    	return disposed;
+    }
+    
+    
+    public boolean isConnected() {
+        return connected;
+    }
+    
+    public void reconnect(URI uri) throws IOException {
+    	add(new URI[] {uri});
+    }
 
 }
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/fanout/FanoutTransport.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/fanout/FanoutTransport.java
index b331ef8258..abd71c072a 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/fanout/FanoutTransport.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/fanout/FanoutTransport.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ public class FanoutTransport implements CompositeTransport {
 
     private TransportListener transportListener;
     private boolean disposed;
+    private boolean connected;
 
     private final Object reconnectMutex = new Object();
     private final ConnectionStateTracker stateTracker = new ConnectionStateTracker();
@@ -281,6 +282,7 @@ public class FanoutTransport implements CompositeTransport {
                     restoreTransport(th);
                 }
             }
+            connected=true;
         }
     }
 
@@ -293,6 +295,7 @@ public class FanoutTransport implements CompositeTransport {
             }
             started = false;
             disposed = true;
+            connected=false;
 
             for (Iterator<FanoutTransportHandler> iter = transports.iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
                 FanoutTransportHandler th = iter.next();
@@ -578,4 +581,9 @@ public class FanoutTransport implements CompositeTransport {
 	public boolean isDisposed() {
 		return disposed;
 	}
+	
+
+    public boolean isConnected() {
+        return connected;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/mock/MockTransport.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/mock/MockTransport.java
index f4ca2b0544..d0f6a41e63 100644
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/mock/MockTransport.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/mock/MockTransport.java
@@ -143,9 +143,12 @@ public class MockTransport extends DefaultTransportListener implements Transport
 	public boolean isDisposed() {
 		return getNext().isDisposed();
 	}
+	
+	public boolean isConnected() {
+       return getNext().isConnected();
+    }
 
 	public void reconnect(URI uri) throws IOException {
 		getNext().reconnect(uri);
 	}
-
 }
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/vm/VMTransport.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/vm/VMTransport.java
index a48fc25e59..2304910404 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/vm/VMTransport.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/vm/VMTransport.java
@@ -17,13 +17,11 @@
 package org.apache.activemq.transport.vm;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.InterruptedIOException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 
-import org.apache.activemq.command.Command;
 import org.apache.activemq.thread.Task;
 import org.apache.activemq.thread.TaskRunner;
 import org.apache.activemq.thread.TaskRunnerFactory;
@@ -331,6 +329,10 @@ public class VMTransport implements Transport, Task {
 	public boolean isDisposed() {
 		return disposed;
 	}
+	
+	public boolean isConnected() {
+	    return started;
+	}
 
 	public void reconnect(URI uri) throws IOException {
 		throw new IOException("Not supported");
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/util/ServiceSupport.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/util/ServiceSupport.java
index c7842afc15..d7969ac351 100644
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/util/ServiceSupport.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/util/ServiceSupport.java
@@ -45,7 +45,13 @@ public abstract class ServiceSupport implements Service {
 
     public void start() throws Exception {
         if (started.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
-            doStart();
+            boolean success = false;
+            try {
+                doStart();
+                success = true;
+            } finally {
+                started.set(success);
+            }
         }
     }