Ever wear a Utilikilt on Amtrak?

[derail3]

I just booked sleeper space on a 10 Dec long distance Amtrak train ( CA Zephyr) from Oakland Ca -Chicago. Traveling by train across the U.S. is nothing new for me. Do it about once a year to visit friends. What would be new is wearing my Utilikilt's, riding the train. Does anyone have any experance wearing Utilikilts on a Amtrak long distance train. I tend to spend most of my day in the sightseer lounge or dinner. If you have worn your Utilikilt. Was it a positive experance. What was the reaction of the crew and fellow passangers.

[crfriend]

I just booked sleeper space on a 10 Dec long distance Amtrak train ( CA Zephyr) from Oakland Ca -Chicago.

Go ahead, make the moderator envious. That's one of my favourite runs, and I haven't done it in over a decade.... Grrr.

Traveling by train across the U.S. is nothing new for me. Do it about once a year to visit friends. What would be new is wearing my Utilikilt's, riding the train. Does anyone have any experance wearing Utilikilts on a Amtrak long distance train.

I've not worn a Utilikilt (I don't own one) nor any other type of skirted rig on a long-haul train, but given the geometry of the garment in question you should be OK so long as you're adept at navigating narrow stairs and tight spaces. The only place you're going to experience tight stairs are getting from the upper level to the lower which happens only if you visit the downstairs "lounge" in the observation car and when you leave or enter the train. The Superliners do *not* have the same entry.egress setups as the equipment in use in the East; the actual transition from train to "ground" is quite mild; in the East, you would have to transition down about 4' of steep and very narrow staircase unless the station in question had high platforms, in which case there would be no transition problem at all.

What was the reaction of the crew and fellow passangers.

Not having any first-hand experience with this, I'd imagine that it would be much like dealing with a professional staff who, quite probably, have seen more than us lot of skirted guys could throw at them.

I swear it's getting to be time for another long-haul trip "at an altitude of five feet above ground level".

[MtnBiker]

I've travelled in a Utilikilt and a traditional kilt many times. The big problem for me is the pleats. I actually find it more comfortable to just wear a loose pair of pants (gasp!) than to sit on the pleats. For me, if I'm moving about I prefer unbifurcated and if I'm gonna have to sit a lot, I'll just wear pants.

[Milfmog]

I've never been on Amtrak (they don't seem to run many services from London, Paddington ). However I have done a lot of travelling around the UK and Europe in a variety of skirts and kilts and have never experienced any hostility at all. As Carl observed the folks who work on the system are used to seeing all manner of out of the ordinary sights and skirted guy is almost certainly just another passenger to them. On this side of the pond most people travelling are either totally wrapped up in themselves so that they just don't notice or are sufficiently interested in the unusual that they want to talk to me. Neither presents a problem and the latter can make the journey far more rewarding for me, particularly as I am not a person who would generally start a conversation with a stranger.

I also tend to agree with MtnBiker that pleats make less comfortable seats than a smooth rear panel (though a pair of keks knotting themselves around the more delicate parts of my anatomy would not be a preferable alternative) so I tend to wear skirts rather than kilts these days for long haul journeys. The width of a UK (mine tends to hang rather like a lampshade) can also be irritating in confined spaces although the huge pocket capacity of my survivor is sometimes a good enough reason to ignore the drawbacks.

Have fun,


Ian.

PS Derail3, should you really be using trains with a handle like that?

[ChrisM]

Not a UK, but I wore a mid-calf skirt on the Amtrak from Savannah GA to Washington DC. I got many double-takes, but no comments. I wore a skirt while dropping my wife off at the terminal in Bellingham WA for her to ride the Cascades south to, err.. I don't remember, maybe just Seattle. Again, many looks, no comments.

On a long trip like CA to IL eventually somebody will muster the courage to speak to you, and then they will discover that you are perfectly normal, just differently-attired.

Have a lovely trip!

Chris

[cessna152towser]

No I have not worn my Utilikilt on Amtrak
BUT
I have worn a Scottish kilt on Amtrak trains, from Niagara Falls to Toronto in 2008, and from Santa Barbara to Ventura on the Californian Surfliner in 2009.
I have worn my Utilikilt on trains and trams in the USA - On the MBTA trams and underground trains around Boston MA and also on the heritage Hobo Railroad from Lincoln NH. Wearing the Utilikilt on trams and trains in USA has been very comfortable and practical and does not draw the attention which a tartan kilt would draw.

[Raakone]

I have yet to ride a long-haul train in a skirt, but I've been on a mainline commuter train in a sarong before, and ridden Montreal's Metro in sarongs and even in robe-like garments (part of a costume, actually). No problems there. My worst problem was on a bus, actually, when I was in a sarong and some idiot decided to use his feet for lifting...but I told him to cut it out, and he grinned at me sheepishly. But I've had no issues on rail. Granted, I don't think I've ever had a ticket inspector come up to me on a commuter train while saronged.

[Colin]

I've worn a denim UnionKilt on flights to North Carolina, as our Son lives there. I've had a few stares at Newark Airport, but elsewhere all O.K.