Originally Posted by
Rob_E
I can't speak specifically to the Capitol Corridor, but ...
What I did was bring a large, cloth duffle bag and a backpack. Two of my four panniers could be stuffed into the duffle, and the contents of the remaining two panniers were distributed between the duffle and the backpack, with a few items left in the mostly-empty panniers that remained on the bike. It was a tight fit, but I ended up with two carry-on bags that held all of my gear. I've tried to pare down my touring gear a little better, so I think I could improve on the situation next time. I also have a set of panniers that will snap together when off the bike. I've done that, and added a bungee and/or a belt to make it a more solid, compact package, and passed two panniers off as one carry on.
Thanks for those ideas. However, the problem with a backpack is that you're stuck with it when you reassemble the bike with the panniers at your destination, so you have to carry it on the bike or on your back, neither of which are ideal unless you really are going to hike with the backpack at your destination. Capitol Corridor doesn't have checked baggage for a boxed bike so by the rules you can only bring 2 carry-ons (the bike and one bag, plus some un-counted items including a blanket, purse, and digital devices). Mounting a large backpack on a bike is going to be difficult, especially with all of the belts and straps backpacks typically have. Travel backpacks that are sleek with pockets to hide away the shoulder straps don't typically have frames that would support the bag being mounted like a pannier. Maybe the conductors are more lenient on the Capitol Corridor than the rules specify, but I'm not comfortable going to the station packed with extra baggage on that assumption. I'm thinking about using a large soft-side travel bag (within Amtrak dimensions) that has telescoping handles and wheels, removing the metal handle system, adding some aluminum strips attached to the plastic wheel plate, bolting mounting hooks on the strips at a good level for hanging the bag vertically like a pannier, wheels down. I'd wheel the entire packed bike through the station to the platform, remove the bag, roll or carry the bike and bag onto the passenger car and stow them in the luggage rack. Inside the bag I'd also have a pannier that could be mounted to distribute the load at my destination, leaving the top portion of the big bag for storage of my light-weight personal carry-on items that didn't get counted as baggage ("blanket" sleeping bag, small tote bag for personal items, digital devices, etc. as defined in the general baggage policy of Amtrak). I once tried to ride with an entire large duffel bag bungeed to the top of my rack, but the bike was so unstable I had to use panniers to ride to the station and then pack them in the duffel, but this left me with a duffel to pack around at the destination, so I'm thinking of creating a mountable duffel as I described. The bag's wheels would add a little extra weight, but they would let me maneuver the bag when off the bike, on train and at destination. On my one prior trip with folder and duffel, the huge heavy duffle was hard to handle even when slung over my shoulder with a shoulder strap, going through bus aisles and such.