Passenger Trains > Chicago Metropolitan Lounge Luggage Storage

What are the luggage storage faculties at the new Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago?  Is is like the old lounge where there is a dedicated room with attendant where passengers can leave  there stuff?  I've only been in the lounge once and kept my one bag with me during the short layover. Didn't think to ask about storage. Thanks in advance for any advice. 

I look forward to any responses as I will also be passing through Chicago  next month and will need to store some bags for a few hours.

The luggage storage is just to the right of the entrance desk (the rest of the club is to the left as you enter).  It is not attended, but anyone going in or out would go right past the employees at the desk.  It is a fairly large room with plenty of storage.  I left my luggage there while I left the station and really was not concerned about its safety, even though it is not secure.

Is there any fixed object you can cable-lock  your bag to ?

The elimination of the manned checked baggage room for sleeping car travelers at Chicago Union Station was apparently done to save some money by letting go 4-5 Redcaps according to what an employee told me when I first used the new lounge.  We come into Chicago on the Lake Shore around 10 am and take one of the west bound trains anywhere from 1 to 3 pm, during which time we would go into the city and shop, have a good lunch, meet a friend, take a city tour, etc. The new baggage storage room next to the front desk of the lounge is fairly small as you will experience when luggage from all afternoon trains seems to be piled in there. The first time we used it an older man was struggling to retrieve his luggage which had gotten blocked by a number of fallen over bags: maybe Amtrak will return to a manned room when someone cracks their skull falling over luggage and sues. We always (for about ten years )looked forward to our Chicago layovers until this new lounge opened. The Red Caps were always handsomely tipped and we never had a problem storing 4-5 bags for several hours, knowing that the bags were safe behind someone who was paid to make sure they were safe. A very short sighted and foolish move by Amtrak.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster. I'd look into whether you can leave a bag
at the baggage check-in counter for a fee.  Your bags could easily walk out of
that first class lounge, either by mistake or on purpose.

My wife and I just returned from a round trip from Indy to Spokane.  We used the luggage storage in Chi in the first class lounge and I felt everything was safe.  They have two people at the desk who check the tickets each time you come into the door.  I would leave it again, no problems.  They do have some storage racks that one could chain something to if they wanted to.  By the way, our train 8 was 4 hours late and we wanted to stay in the lounge until we took the bus out at 11, but they close at 9 PM.  They have a great lounge however.  

But what if someone indvertently takes the wrong bag with them? Lots of bags look alike and this kind of stuff happens on board the trains with carryons.

I strongly agree with Northeaster. The old system was much better. d

Since 95% of luggage is black, and the Metro lounge is unsecured, I would not leave my bag more than 6' away from me unless locked down. That goes also for the lower level or end of car luggage racks as well.

The_Chief_Way Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But what if someone indvertently takes the wrong
> bag with them? Lots of bags look alike and this
> kind of stuff happens on board the trains with
> carryons.

How many airports baggage areas are not patroled?
Remember,ALL BAGS LOOK ALIKE.
Mine here is not,neither is Ft.Lauderdale.

I left mine there last November,no worries.You people
are paranoid.

Uncle Joe,Seffner,Fl.

Uncle Joe is going a bit far here, as NJ Joe's concern is quite valid. Waiting for 448 last week, I put my bag in the luggage room early in the day before heading out for walkabout. Checked my bags in there about 1P before all afternoon trains, and the room was PACKED SOLID from floor to roof. The sheer volume of bags (literally few places you could even see the floor) definitely concerned me that someone may inadvertently grab my bag in the scrum as trains got called. 

The airport reference rings hollow as it's apples to oranges. In the airport baggage claim, bags are spaced out on a carousel rather than jammed into a room. When the afternoon trains are called, especially 5/7/and 3, there is a mad rush at the room to grab bags. Therein lies the issue. It is a scrum packed with impatient people wanting to get their bags and get walking to their train. Next time I pass through the Chicago Lounge, I will definitely put something conspicuous on my bags like a ribbon of some sort. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/17 16:09 by ColdRainAndSnow.

It is the way it is done in the Acela lounge in NYC.  I have never seen nor heard of a problem, and I leave my bags for a bit most trips.

 

Chessie, the first class lounge is quite different from Acela lounges, almost all (hundreds for all the afternoon departures) the passengers are traveling more than a day, that is why they are traveling sleeper, hence, they have lots more luggage than Acela which is a short hop train, mainly business travelers. Acela lounges are locked, the CUS lounge is open door with one or two desk attendants who check passengers in after they have entered the front area. When the front entry area is packed full of anxious people crowding in to get to the desk, there is no way the attendants can be aware of who is going in and out of the small baggage room. So many passengers were unwilling or unable to put their luggage in that little room during holiday travel season that they hauled their luggage with them into the lounge effectively blocking spaces between the seats....I was there and it was a mess. I have also been in a both the Boston and NYC Acela lounges and believe me Chicago is a whole different scene. There is a sign which states that the luggage room is video monitored but that has no value when you bag is heading for Seattle when you are heading for San Antonio or it is being riffled on the streets of Chicago.

Amtrak still hasn't figure out how to run CUS, whether it be where to put luggage, how to board trains, etc.

They are running far fewer LD trains than they did 25 years ago and with mostly shorter consists of what remains. But Amtrak has not understood the LD train business since Claytor left.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Amtrak still hasn't figure out how to run CUS,
> whether it be where to put luggage, how to board
> trains, etc.
>
> They are running far fewer LD trains than they did
> 25 years ago and with mostly shorter consists of
> what remains. But Amtrak has not understood the LD
> train business since Claytor left.

Not only that but here Amtrak makes an investment in baggage cars for its long distance trains and  you sort of get the impression that these baggage cars will come certain "conveniences" once at the station/terminus (whatever) only to find out something like this in Chicago. You had the old broken down Heritage cars - per Amtrak - and they provided for ample red caps to help protect and shuffle people and baggage. 

On the other hand VIA got rid of all its red caps and I have no idea how they handle things for the Ocean and Canadian most specifically. At intermediate stations, some stationmasters (e.g. at Jasper and Vancouver) assist with the luggage, along with the conductors or other special workers.