@quixoticgeek @ehproque @tml @SteveJonesnono1 There are VERY FEW things I will praise Amtrak for, but some of their intercity services have (or had as recently as 2016) a guard's wagon where you could check your big-ass suitcase and they'd offload it on the platform at your destination.
@cstross @ehproque @tml @SteveJonesnono1 Deutsche bahn and OBB have guards vans on some trains. That's where bikes go. Ditto VR in Finland, and my bike went in a guards van on a train in Norway too.