I found myself quite flummoxed while riding the train in Britain on this last trip, and I'm wondering if the Fodor's specialists can help. I took the train from Liverpool to London. Heaving my suitcase aboard one car, I made it to a seat, dismayed that there was precious little space to stash my luggage. Then, I realized that all the seats in the car were reserved. So, I left the car, walked down the platform a ways, and then found a suitable spot on another car.

I've never seen so many seats reserved before. It was a new train car, called the Pendolino. I'm never sure which car to board. I can avoid first class easily enough, but I never know which other cars might be okay. Would reserving a seat next time be a good idea? I bought my ticket that morning, walking up to the ticket office.

< I've never seen so many seats reserved before >

All seats on long distance trains are reserved - it come automatically with your ticket unless you buy a ticket on the day.

Did you check the ends of the coaches as that's where luggage is normally stored?

Meant to add, generally the only seats that aren't reserved are found in the 2nd class coach at the end of the train, in any of the other coaches it's rare for there to be non-reserved seats.

However did you check where the seats were reserved from/to? Many of the seats will be reserved for only a short part of the trip - and some will have several reservations for different legs of the trip

If you travel at a busy time, especially a Friday evening, you'll find all the seats are reserved. If you travel at a quiet time, such as a Tuesday lunchtime, you'll find lots of available seats.
In the UK, most train companies offer free seat reservations, so many people take a seat reservation when they buy a ticket, then travel on another train, so their reserved seat is available.
If you can't find a vacant seat, you should also look at the seat reservation labels to see where the seat is reserved. If you are travelling from York to Edinburgh, for example, the train may have started from London, and some seats may have been reserved only from London to York, so will be available from York to Edinburgh.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind about seat reservations. I might be able to buy a ticket ahead of time, and do that.

I did check the cars for storage space, but in the Pendolino, it seems to be in the center of the car, not the end. And by the time I got there, it was full. I need to get to the train station earlier next time.