Southwest Chief Bedroom/luggage

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The Roomettes aren't that big on the Superliners. I generally leave my larger suitcase downstairs, locked, and bring my toiletries bag upstairs. Haven't taken a Bedroom on a Superliner; they are bigger so you might prefer to bring your bag up.
 
I get a bedroom on superliners and I "schlep" my luggage upstairs. Very rarely, the SCA will offer to help (usually they are very busy when I board). However, most of the time, the SCA will carry my luggage downstairs when I detrain. I generally travel light, but it is still a challenge to get my bag upstairs. (I am fairly small).
 
Wouldn’t it be easier to check luggage in the baggage car?

Unless you’re boarding/disembarking at a station that does not offer checked luggage…
 
Oreius said:
Wouldn’t it be easier to check luggage in the baggage car?

Unless you’re boarding/disembarking at a station that does not offer checked luggage…
Click to expand...
I never check my luggage. I want it with me, so I carry it upstairs. I know what will fit in the bedroom and pack accordingly.
 
We always leave our two suitcases in the lower level storage area. Our backpacks, a "carry-on" bag with meds, toiletries, etc. and a garment bag goes up to our bedroom with us. As for a changes of clothes, we leave a set in an outer pouch on the suitcase which is easily accessible in the storage area. My wife's folding walker is also stowed in the luggage storage area.
 
USually we bring two carry on suitcases and one larger suitcase. Now all three of our recent-most trips we've either been in a superliner bedroom or a downstairs roomette.

When we were in the bedroom both carry ons came up with us and stayed in the room the entire way, the larger suitcase stayed in the bottom.

For the roomettes we just had everything in the luggage rack and it was right next to us if we needed anything. (In the viewliner roomette we didn't have the bigger bag and so we kept both carry ons in the room)
 
pennyk said:
I get a bedroom on superliners and I "schlep" my luggage upstairs. Very rarely, the SCA will offer to help (usually they are very busy when I board). However, most of the time, the SCA will carry my luggage downstairs when I detrain. I generally travel light, but it is still a challenge to get my bag upstairs. (I am fairly small).
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They offer to help when disembarking to try and get a tip even when they offer no help with loading. We've had them fail to offer any help when we were the only ones boarding that car multiple times. If that happend, I tell them I'll handle my luggage when disembarking and not tip. Once, the SLA offered no help deboarding but the SLA from the adjacent car saw we were struggling and came over to help. He got the tip.

I can understand on Superliners that, for most people, helping them bring excessive luggage (and even minimal luggage) up the stairs can be time consuming when trying to handle a bunch of passengers especially if the passenger is needlessly bringing things to the room instead of using downstairs storage or checking it. However, on viewliners, the narrow stairs just to get on the train is often a problem for passengers and I've seen the SLA fail to offer assistance even though the line is stopped because the passenger is struggling and it would save the SLA time to have helped the passenger. A few times, even though I'm in my '70s and not in good condition, I have walked past the SLA to help the passenger so the line we're on moves a little faster.

I blame Amtrak for not having a way to check bags at most stations (there is a solution - just have an onboard baggage person, station scale with printer to print bag weight along with saving that info plus a picture of bag on the scale and printable or pre-printed checked bag tickets. The bags are then left at a pre-set location near where the baggage car stops.)

I blame SLAs who offer no help even when it is in their best interest.

I blame passengers who needlessly insist on carrying on all their luggage when going from check-bag station to checked-bag station or who, in the same conditions, hog the superliner storage instead of leaving it for those who don't have checked bag option at departure or arrival stations.
 
me_little_me said:
However, on viewliners, the narrow stairs just to get on the train is often a problem for passengers and I've seen the SLA fail to offer assistance even though the line is stopped because the passenger is struggling and it would save the SLA time to have helped the passenger.
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I guess I am very fortunate. I have always had a sleeping car attendant get my bag up (or down) the stairs when boarding or detraining a Viewliner. I live in Orlando and ride Viewliners more often than Superliners.
 
pennyk said:
I guess I am very fortunate. I have always had a sleeping car attendant get my bag up (or down) the stairs when boarding or detraining a Viewliner. I live in Orlando and ride Viewliners more often than Superliners.
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Try the Crescent sometime. Plenty of "watchers" - those that like to stand there watching seniors struggle.
 
irishred72 said:
So if we choose to leave luggage in the downstairs storage area, do we have access to it if we need to get something?
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Yes. It's accessible to you. Luggage gets moved around a little bit so it may not be in the exact spot you left it. Be sure to put locks on it. I've seen zippers inadvertently opened.
 
There's no need to struggle to carry your stuff up the stairs the instant you board. The boarding process is hectic, especially when lots of people board. Leave it downstairs on the luggage rack, go upstairs and check out your room, then if you want it, carry it up later.
 
irishred72 said:
So if we choose to leave luggage in the downstairs storage area, do we have access to it if we need to get something?
Click to expand...
Yes, sort of. But sometimes when there is a lot of luggage, the suitcases get packed in tight and it's hard for little people like me to pry them out to get into them. Best to put what you need for the train trip in something like a daypack that you can bring upstairs.
 
Oreius said:
Wouldn’t it be easier to check luggage in the baggage car?

Unless you’re boarding/disembarking at a station that does not offer checked luggage…
Click to expand...
Based on our experiences from our most recent trip, we will no longer have any luggage that needs to be checked. (Everything we will take with us on future trips will be distributed among our carry-on items.)

Eric & Pat
 
My only experience with checked baggage was the LSL out of Boston back when they still had the baggage car. When we got to Chicago it seemed to take forever before the baggage showed up at the carousel. Not like the airlines where your bags can sometimes be on the belt already by the time you get to bag claim. On our recent trip we ended up putting our one big bag in the sleeper storage area for that reason.
 
AmtrakMaineiac said:
My only experience with checked baggage was the LSL out of Boston back when they still had the baggage car. When we got to Chicago it seemed to take forever before the baggage showed up at the carousel. Not like the airlines where your bags can sometimes be on the belt already by the time you get to bag claim. On our recent trip we ended up putting our one big bag in the sleeper storage area for that reason.
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Whereas in Albuquerque, my luggage was off the baggage car and into/at the station well before I ever got to it.
 
AmtrakMaineiac said:
My only experience with checked baggage was the LSL out of Boston back when they still had the baggage car. When we got to Chicago it seemed to take forever before the baggage showed up at the carousel. Not like the airlines where your bags can sometimes be on the belt already by the time you get to bag claim. On our recent trip we ended up putting our one big bag in the sleeper storage area for that reason.
Click to expand...
The airlines can sometimes be faster because it takes forever to get off the plane especially if you are nowhere near the front. Then the walk to baggage claim feels like you are walking back to your original departure city and takes almost as long. :)

In most places, I've gotten bags within just a few minutes on the train. On the other hand, some plane trips give one a great opportunity to take a long nap while waiting for the bags to arrive.

I will find out what Chicago is like for the first time in November. We'll be checking a bag from Colorado to Chicago, then overnighting, then catching the Cardinal to a non-checked-baggage stop the next day. With 3 day a week Cardinal, we can't afford to miss our train or, worse, check the bag to Chicago then have our bag not get transferred because we're late so can't grab or bag to carry on the Cardinal or we get pulled off early w/o our bag because we'd otherwise miss the Cardinal.

For us, checking one big bag and just us toting some small ones is far more convenient because of our ages and medical problems. In fact, the big bag will have a small folding one inside so after arrival in Chicago in both directions, we can put two days fresh clothes in it before checking to Colorado and before checking from Colorado on return then putting the folding one back in the big one upon return to Chicago to minimize what we carry and tote.
 
AmtrakMaineiac said:
My only experience with checked baggage was the LSL out of Boston back when they still had the baggage car. When we got to Chicago it seemed to take forever before the baggage showed up at the carousel. Not like the airlines where your bags can sometimes be on the belt already by the time you get to bag claim. On our recent trip we ended up putting our one big bag in the sleeper storage area for that reason.
Click to expand...
I've waited well over half an hour before the first bags started to show up at an airport baggage claim, in particular on a flight arriving late night when most of the airport was shut down and parts roped off. And when they did show up, they were on a carousel 2 or 3 down from the one that was posted.
 
Semi on topic but if you're leaving baggage down where anybody can grab it is there a lot of theft?
 
Emmo213 said:
Semi on topic but if you're leaving baggage down where anybody can grab it is there a lot of theft?
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Theft of course is always possible but I would be more concerned with someone taking my bag thinking it was theirs as they get off the train. They may not intend to steal your bag but the net result is the same - your bag is gone. It helps if your bag is unique in some way that makes it less likely to be mistaken for someone else's.
 
valkyrie said:
It helps if your bag is unique in some way that makes it less likely to be mistaken for someone else's.
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My bag is turquoise, and adorned with a a blue vinyl Amtrak luggage tag and another luggage tag in the shape of a tiger shark, a free gift I got while at the Maui Ocean Center aquarium three years ago. I don't think anyone will be mistaking my bag for theirs.😂
 

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