Larger stroller

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Strollermama

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I have a larger stroller with a carseat combo that click together, a backpack, duffel bag, and diaper bag and I'm traveling with a small baby alone. Will I be able to being all of these items onto the coast starlight with me from Seattle, wa to eugene, oregon? Or check in some of the items, or only like the duffel bag? The stroller makes moving things easier together so I'm hoping to keep that until I get on the train since the carseat clicks in and it can hold the diaper bag.
 
From Amtrak's site:

Baby Items
Booster seats, car seats, folding strollers

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Carry-On: Allowed - up to 50 lbs.
Checked: Allowed - up to 50 lbs. and 100 linear inches

  • Baby items will be allowed onboard or in checked baggage service in lieu of a piece of baggage; no service fees apply.
  • Carriages, active strollers, all terrain strollers, multi-child strollers may be required to be checked.
 
Seattle is the starting point of the train and start of your journey. You are a short haul passenger. The above regulations are facts, but the ability to handle the bags in one trip is the difference between get everything on board, and been forced to check it. Are you booked lower level coach? Seems like you could just roll into the lower level coach area, and park your stuff in a “H” Space as you adjust your gear for seating. Most of your stuff is baby related. I don’t see a major problem.

Of course your mileage may vary, depending on the crew, or station staff.
 
Glad you included that last sentence. On our Big Family Trip in 2006, when we checked 10 pieces of luggage, we thought it would be no problem to put our two strollers and two car seats in the lower level luggage rack of our sleeper (after all, we were taking up four Roomettes plus the Family Bedroom). But when it came time to board, our sleeper attendant refused to let us bring them on board unless we stowed them in our rooms. There was plenty of space but, "I might need the space down the line," he said. The station agent wouldn't check them; she said that we should have checked them an hour ago. It looked as if we were going to have to leave the baby items on the platform. Finally, our sleeper attendant relented to the point where he would let us stow the strollers in the luggage rack if we kept the car seats in our rooms. We had one spare upper berth, so that worked.

Amtrak's most consistent problem is its inconsistency.
 
Normally I roll my eyes at spurious "down the line" warnings, but I've personally experienced situations in the past where my carefully packed regulation size roll-a-board couldn't fit in the luggage rack because an empty car seat or stroller was wasting three bags worth of shelf space. Sorry, but I have little sympathy for that kind of use. Unless you rented the whole car I believe the SCA was right to have you put that stuff in your room so other people could get to their stuff easily rather than expect everyone to work around empty strollers and car seats. Maybe a good compromise would be to place such things in the externally accessible area where they sometimes store skis and poles at little or no cost to parents with children.
 
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We did book 25% of the car, and the aforementioned baby items were the only things we wished to place in the luggage rack. And, no, the rack never filled up.
 
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