If you are close to a city that has a passport office, it is possible to get a replacement passport on a short cycle time

The fastest I have able to accomplish this was in less than 8 hours.  My daughter was supposed to leave for Ireland in two days when she discovered that her passport was not to be found (and neither was her birth certificate).  

I got on the horn the next morning and determined that the closest location that issued passports was Houston.  I then made the rounds of my US Congressional elected officials.  I hit pay dirt with my U.S. House of Representatives member (and it didn't hurt that he was House Majority Leader at the time).  His office expedited the paperwork (can you say "greased the skids").  

My wife and daughter grabbed a plane from Dallas to Houston about 10:00 a.m. and had a "hot off the press" passport by 4:30 that afternoon.  They were back home by 8:00 that evening to finish packing for the trip.  And, yes.  She boarded the plane to Ireland the next morning.

dd