Luggage safety?

[T]

First train trip so I would like some advise on keeping my luggage safe. Especially my backpack which has all the essentials for the two day trip. This includes medications, laptop, etc. Do I take this with me to the dining car or walking or can I lock it to the above rack?

 

[tonys96]

Either. There are no locks, but if you have a mechanism to lock it, that will work. I have never seen any theft of tampering on Amtrak.

 

[Shortline]

No room really to take it to the dining car, unless its small. Very small. If in a sleeper it's fine, if in coach, it's also generally safe-just pack it all up, and put in the overhead, it will be fine. People generally look after each other, and know who's stuff is who's. there is always a slight risk but problems are rare.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Little neighborhoods and communities usually form in Coach where nearby pax will get to visiting with one another and watching after one another's stuff when someone leaves, such as for a meal.

I fondly remember one trip several years ago on the Sunset Limited where an older woman in our community area lost her wallet and was afraid someone had boosted it from her purse while she was in the Diner, purse next to her. Since she still had over a day of traveling left, someone started a hat pass and we raised a nice little Kitty so she had money to eat with; she refused to take it. About that time the LSA came into the Coach with her wallet. It had fallen onto the floor and got kicked under the seat.

And on that same trip a pair of very butch women boarded and set up in the 2 seats across from me. They had 2 titanic coolers brimming with food and drinks and immediately let me know I was going to help them eat down their Food Storage. Of course I did not refuse and the food they had was great.

 

[the_traveler]

Unlike other forms of transportation (such as planes), a train becomes a community during it's journey. People watch out for each other and their things. When traveling in coach overnight ( yes I did ), I left my netbook out and asked my seatmate if he would watch it while I used the rest room. He did, and it was still there when I returned a few minutes later!

I personally have no problem keeping things above my seat or in my room. Can things be taken? Yes. But most likely, that person is still aboard the train. Very few people get off a train going 79 MPH!

 

[Ryan]

In my 5ish years posting here, I can think of maybe 2 or 3 times I've heard of people complaining about something of theirs going missing. It's exceedingly rare, but not completely unheard of.

I'd certainly try and "make friends" with some of my neighbors and keep an eye on each other's stuff.

 

[chakk]

Don't leave valuables in your luggage stored on the racks of the lower level of either coach or sleeping cars. I personally know some folks whose luggage was rifled through during the night in those downstairs locations and they lost a lot of valuable things.

 

[caravanman]

It's mostly common sense, 99.9% of folk are decent and law abiding, you can just make it a little harder for that 0.1%. A small soft day sack type of bag could sit on the floor between your legs in the dinning car, hardly room on the tables for the 4 meals plus even a camera!

Small padlocks can often be used to hold zippers closed, and a wire loop bike type lock could secure it to the overhead rack. I have never known stuff to go missing on my dozens of Amtrak rides, but a train 'aint a safety deposit room!

Ed

 

[Eris]

I travel with two kids and all of their electronics, usually in coach, too often in the "short haul" car while on a long haul (because our destination station has a short platform they don't like to put us in the rear coach where they put most of the all the way through from Seattle to Los Angeles passengers). I try to convince them to at least cover things up on their seats but it doesn't always happen... we've gone to a meal in the dining car and come back to find the iPad sitting on top of a laptop, next to a Kindle. I scowl about it, but we've never had anything go missing.

We've heard, on some trips, of things like backpacks that have gone missing- I can remember one time where it was lost late at night, its owner having no idea where he might have last had it, and found the next day in a restroom of a different coach car than the passenger was riding in. One vaguely suspects that the passenger was not entirely sober, perhaps, though he also claimed that his laptop had been in the backpack and no longer was when it was recovered. I think the moral there might be, don't leave your laptop bag in a bathroom.

 

[dabrilloman]

I agree with idea of small locks on your luggage on the lower level. I had my bag rifled through on the eastbound CZ back in April. The only thing of 'real' value in the bag were 3 travel size bottles of Jameson Irish Whiskey, of course they were taken...my ginger ales were not quite as tasty the rest of the trip, darn it! All the dirty clothes were left alone though. Locks have been bought...lesson learned!!!

 

[tpwin12]

Thanks for all the ideas on safety!!

T