Canadian - How much baggage space?

Hi
When Laura & I travelled the same route, we had a medium sized case plus some smaller hand luggage. Our other bags were in the baggage car, and that is out of bounds till baggage claim in Toronto. We had a bedroom, and I'm not sure how much space there is in the roomettes. Hope you have a great time, we certainly did.
Cheers
Steve

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I found that there was more room in a roomette on a Manor series sleeper than say a Viewliner roomette for storage of items. You lose the "seat" across from you to put the suitcase (when travelling in a Viewliner Roomette alone), but there still seems to be room around for a suitcase.

And then there is an overhead rack in the Manor series sleeper, from what I recall. I wouldn't take my advice though because baggage policies have changed and become more strict since I last took the Canadian.

But when I did, I had no problem "in the room" with a regular size suitcase - weighing probably 60 pounds (max now is 50 pounds) - a back pack, and probably one other hand bag (a VIA bag I purchased that could be as small as a camera case and expand with multiple zippers to as large as a dufflebag). The later two items fit in the overhead compartment. The suitcase I did have to maneuver around a bit and I think I even had to put it under the bed or between the bed and door by the wash basin (that was the only tight time - at night when the bed was down). I am positive though, VIA would NOT let passengers like me with that kind of luggage board any more. You can see diagrams of the Manor series roomettes (which I prefer over the Chateau series sleepers), as well as the current baggage policies.

My experience with luggage in a roomette is the same as jp1822, although I wouldn't bring too much simply because of the cramped conditions. A fair-sized suitcase will fit in the overhead rack and there is space under the seat - in Manor sleepers, that is. Although I'm generally not fond of the Château roomettes, the "upper" ones (#3,4,7,8) have a large luggage space above - a solid alcove - which is very convenient. There is, however, no space under the seat in those roomettes.

The on-board baggage policy is unevenly enforced. In Toronto and Montreal (and a few others) station attendants patrol the boarding queue with a mobile scale. "Offenders" are sent to the ticket office to pay the fee for an overweight bag and if it's too heavy to be permitted on board they are required to empty some of it. There is even a scale in some of the Panorama Lounges. Many stations have been de-staffed recently. At some of these, passengers are expected to weigh their luggage at the ticket machines - as if most will do that! The same inconsistency applies to security: at some stations - Toronto and Montreal for sure - passengers' tickets, boarding passes or smartphones are scanned before they are allowed to pass through the gate. At most other staffed stations they are not. At unstaffed stations passengers sometimes board without a ticket because the kiosk isn't working or the passenger can't get it to accept their card. On Saturday at Toronto Union I met a small group of friends who are heading west on the Canadian. No-one weighed anyone's carry-on baggage in the Panorama Lounge or at the gate.

I'll be traveling at the end of May in a LOWER berth Vancouver over to Toronto. Could someone please give me an idea of what can be brought into a "section"? I'm thinking of a duffel bag. Would that fit onboard?

I don"t know the measurement of the space between the bottom of the seat and the floor, but if the bag isn't too high it will fit under the bench seat. That is the only place for your carry-on luggage. If there is no passenger booked for the upper berth you will, of course, have two seats to yourself. I recommend you bring a small empty bag - such as a cloth shopping back - so if your duffel bag won't fit under the seat you can transfer some of the contents to the other bag to reduce the height of the duffel bag.