Amtrak = a well oiled machine? Wishful thinking, I'm afraid. However, Amtrak's checked baggage system, as it were, is pretty much that the ticket agent piles the bags onto a cart and brings them out to the train. It's dead simple, and unlike an airport, you can pretty much see your bag the entire time.

Pros:
- difficult for things to get lost in such a simple system
- generous allowances by airline standards
- can "check" boxes at good prices even when you're not traveling with
- can often drop/retrieve bags at your leisure
Cons, mostly related to short-staffed stations:
- long waits to retrieve bags
- few stations even offer the service
- weird station hours sometimes