My train trip to Sacramento - dressed femme

[JB]

Hi - this is an account of my train trip to Sacramento last year. I hope it's not too long, apologies if it is!

All Aboard For Sacramento !!


Ever since I was old enough to know that my grandfather was an engineer on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, I have been fascinated with the size and tremendous power of trains. As a five year old boy, I remember how the ground shook as the Long Island Railroad pulled in to deliver my father from work. As a fifty year old man, I remember how the ground shook as a Union Pacific freight train thundered through Gerlach last summer in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. As a twenty year old college student, I would walk to class along the Milwaukee Road tracks, hoping a local freight would come along. As a thirteen year old boy, I was almost left behind as the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s California Zephyr pulled out of Denver with my family on board; I had been too busy admiring the sleek silver cars from the platform when the train began to roll. For me trains were meant to be enjoyed and admired as well as ridden, and this is still true today.

Not long ago I decided to visit the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California. It would be a great day for a railroad buff like me. Amtrak from San Jose to Sacramento early in the morning, and a whole afternoon to enjoy the museum at my leisure. What could be better? The museum is in Old Sacramento, an easy walk from the railroad station. I would enjoy trains galore, some Wild West atmosphere and would end up back in San Jose the same evening. As a special twist, I would be dressing femme for the day!

Some explanation is in order here. I am a straight guy, happily married to a wonderful woman for almost twenty years. I have typical male interests such as music, aviation and target shooting. I was an engineer in the semiconductor industry for many years before being laid off recently. And…I really enjoy wearing skirts! My body is one hundred percent male and always will be, but somehow I enjoy dressing femme from the waist down. From the waist up I appear as a completely ordinary guy; no wigs, make-up or padding and just regular guy shirts and so forth. From the waist down however I wear short skirts, men’s briefs, pantyhose and high heels. I shave my legs but not my mustache! It’s a wonderful combination for me, and I feel especially happy and energized when I dress this way. I try to do so a few times per month, but the rest of the time I look like just another typical guy.

Early one morning, I’m standing in line to buy a ticket at the beautifully restored Southern Pacific Railroad depot in San Jose, California. It’s a day I’ve been eager to begin. Commuters and travelers stand in line with me, and some of them are awake enough to glance politely at my clothing. I am dressed femme for the day, and have left my pants behind! From the waist up I look like my ordinary male self: camouflage jacket, camouflage t-shirt and mustache. A handbag that used to be my camera kit hangs over one shoulder and contains the things that more usually go in my pants pockets.

From the waist down my femme persona begins. I’m wearing a short camouflage skirt, taupe pantyhose and black loafers with stacked two-inch heels. I especially enjoy the skirt matching my upper clothes, and I feel like I’m wearing a suit when I have the jacket on. My legs are sleek and smooth from shaving just an hour ago and even though I speak to the ticket agent in my normal male voice, I feel pretty, sexy and feminine.

Out on the platform I admire the throbbing diesel-electric locomotive and then climb aboard the train. I walk a bit more carefully than my male self, adjusting my stride to accommodate my high heels. I cross my legs modestly as I take my seat and smooth my short skirt above and below me. Soon we are rolling and on our way! I am excited and a little nervous as we pick up speed; this is my first time dressed femme outside the liberal San Francisco Bay Area. How will people react to me in Sacramento? I am soon to find out.

The train rolls out of the Bay Area and heads northeast after crossing the bridge at Benicia. I time the mileposts and note that we are exceeding 80 MPH at times. Even so it’s a smooth ride, and I enjoy breakfast and coffee in the dinette car. Passengers and crew look discretely at me from time to time, but no one says anything out the ordinary. I feel self-conscious but safe and unthreatened. As we pull in to Sacramento I’m really keyed up. I have only my skirt for modesty and my heels for transport! I take a few deep breaths and walk into the depot.

It all turns out to be anti-climactic. Nobody gives me any trouble, although I can tell they’re intrigued by the skirt around my waist and my legs in sheer, delicate pantyhose. I imagine their thoughts:

”He must be gay, but he’s wearing a wedding ring!”

“Why is he dressed like that?”

”How come his legs look so bare and exposed?”

”Is the mustache for real?”

”I thought guys were supposed to be rough and hairy all over!”

The docent in the cab of a huge steam locomotive gawks at me but still goes carefully through his explanation of the oil-burning firebox. An elderly lady strikes up a conversation as we both admire the dining car of a streamlined express train. I think she is curious to hear if my voice will be high or low. Of course it is low, because I always use a male voice regardless of how I’m dressed. She smiles at me and never mentions my clothing.

The most outgoing reaction I get is from the woman behind the lunch counter. Cheerful and ebullient, she says “Whoa Buster, where did you get those great legs?” She admires my outfit, looks me up and down and says “Oh yeah…turn around!” I oblige, pivoting while I hold the hem of my skirt with both hands. Her compliments really make my day, in fact they make my whole month! I smile bashfully and blush a little, and her kind words really make me feel good. This is the high point of the day, and I end up chatting with the woman and her sister for over an hour. It turns out that they are both lesbians, and from them I gather that Sacramento definitely has a connected LGBT community.

All too soon it’s time to catch my train home, and I say goodbye to the two sisters. I’ve lost track of time and now I must trot back to the station as fast as my high heels will carry me. Running in heels is kind of a misnomer, as you can’t go too fast without risking a dangerous fall. This is the only time that my gait become obviously feminine; heels look terrific but they definitely have their physical limitations! As it turns out, the station is closer than I realized and I make it to the platform in plenty of time. I feel a tremendous surge of accomplishment and satisfaction as I take a seat and kick back for the ride home. We roll right next to the water along the Carquinez Strait and San Pablo Bay, and the sun is low in the western sky. The scenery is gorgeous, and it’s a great way to end a fabulous day. I feel very fortunate to be who I am.

[JoAnnDallas]

WOW....you sure had a great time. I have been to that train Musesm. I even had my picture taken while sitting in the cab of the "CabFoward loco". It is great to hear a story like yours. Believe or not, your groundbraking for us all.

I got to ride an Alaskan Flag Train one summer. It went from Fiarbanks to Anchage and it took all day long. Then too it's top speed is 30 MPH. It is the reasion it is called a "Flag Train". One can stand on the side of the tracks and wave the train to a stop and get on. Also a passenger can tell one of the conducter that she/he want to get off at a certain mile marker and the train will stop and let the person off and even offload any baggage they have too.

Glad you had a great time.

[Virginia]

HI JB,
Here I am in the train capital of the east?! Roanoke, Virginia, home of Norfolk and Western or whatever they call themselves now!
I too admire the power and size and wonder to trains. We have the "O. Winston Link" museum here and it has some wonderful trains. They had a fire a couple of years ago and damaged some of the exhibits. None of the pictures were damaged however and some of them would send shivers up yor spine. It is strictly a volunteer type museum and they have trouble sometimes getting people who are willing to work on the trains to keep them in shape for exhibits. I can't help, because I know little to nothing about the workings. N&W sometimes volunteers their employees to work there, but it just is not quite enough.
What is absolutely amazing to me is that here we are in the headquarters city of N&W and have to drive 50+ miles to get an Amtrak Train!!!
Nothing like riding the rails!
Virginia

[Absaroka]

That sounds like a fun day.

There have been a couple of threads in this forum about trains. Apparently there is a bit of correlation between crossdressing and trains although it is hard to quantify because among other things no one knows how many crossdressers there really are. As to what the link might be I prefer to think of it as having something to do with maintaining a sense of childish wonder about things.

Absaroka

[KristenS]

Count me in your number as well. While I've not been to the California Museum, I been to a number of others including the Va. Transportation Museum and the O. Winston Link Museum, both in Roanoke. I've also ridden behind N&W 611 and 1218 for more miles than I can remember back when the steam program was going. This past summer my partner and I rode "The Canadian" from Winnipeg to Vancouver and loved it (and I was in my usual "polished soft neutral look". Also on that trip, we had a chance to see CPR 2816 which I thoroughly intend to ride later this year!

[JB]

Hi Everybody,

Thanks for the interesting comments and for your good cheer and encouragement! I think you're right, there is childish (for me, boyish) wonder at the size and power of the railroad. The same goes for aircraft, ships and so forth.

A friend of mine, who also happens to be a RR buff, made the same remark in so many words. I asked him why he was so interested in trains, and he said "hey, I was a little boy too, just like you were!" That seems to sum it up pretty well, don't you think?

I'm also pretty sure that my friend knows about my cross-dressing, and I've been meaning to come out to him someday. He lives in another state and I don't see him very often; somehow the right moment just hasn't presented itself. Still, I think he knows through the grapevine:

One time he and I were frantically trying to put something away as a thunderstorm was fast approaching. We were securing it with a metal bracket; he was holding the bracket closed while I prepared to screw in a big wing bolt to keep it closed. We were already getting wet, and in my haste, I inserted the bolt crooked and couldn't engage the threads. Thinking that I had it in place, my friend was about to let go of the bracket when I said "hold it Mark, damn...it's cross threaded." Now Mark is a very funny, humorous and witty guy. Even with the rain coming down on us, he said out of nowhere, "Oh, go ahead and cross-thread, everybody needs a hobby!" We both laughed, and that made me about 99.9% certain that he knew about me.

Still I was shy and embarassed and I hesitated to confirm his hunch. Later, after we went indoors to shake out our soggy clothes, I mentioned that I didn't have any other clean clothes to put on in place of my wet ones. Being ever the quick wit, he said "Hey, no problem, Neita's got some old dresses you could borrow..." Hearing that, I was now 99.9999% sure he knew. One of these days, I'm going to come out to him, and I don't think he'll be surprised.

Regards,

[Absaroka]

Either he knows or perhaps he is trying to work up the nerve to tell you that he is a CDer.

Absaroka

[KimberlyS]

Hi John, GREAT Story. I hear so many people tell me that I am nuts to want to do things like in your story. Why would you want to do that, so many ask me, as if one needs to pass to be a real CDer. But I am a guy that wears femme clothes and presents my male self to the world. It is so refreshing to hear someone else out doing it.

Some day I hope to be more out in the open like you, but for now since we live in a small town, the well being of my wife and kids comes first, so most of my time out of the house is presenting a female image that society can handle.

KimberlyS-CD