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4141

As reported today in the NYT by Manny Fernandez:

Mr. Bush’s funeral train will take him on one last journey through the state on Thursday, this time in a Union Pacific locomotive. The train, named Union Pacific 4141, will travel 70 miles through Magnolia, Navasota and other small towns, led by a 4,300-horsepower locomotive painted blue, gray and white in homage to the colors of Air Force One. Members of the Bush family will be on board.

Arranged for a man who had been America’s oldest living ex-president, Mr. Bush’s locomotive procession will give his long-planned memorial services a throwback touch, evoking the presidential funeral trains for Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Franklin Roosevelt in 1945 and Dwight Eisenhower in 1969. The train ride from his Houston funeral to his College Station burial was his idea, organizers said.

The train itself was unveiled in 2005. Mr. and Mrs. Bush toured it at an event held at Texas A&M, posing for pictures in which they peeked out of the window of the cab, above the side emblazoned with “4141.” Inside the cab, Union Pacific officials, including Mike Iden, then an engineering executive for the company, explained to Mr. Bush how the train operated.

“It was at that point that President Bush said, ‘Can I take this for a drive? Can I run it?’” Mr. Iden, now retired, recalled in a Union Pacific video. Mr. Bush, he said, climbed into the engineer’s seat and got a brief tutorial.

Then, for about two short miles, he took his funeral train out for a spin.

Wonderful story PT7

Outstanding!

Thanks for the post.

Here's a pic as it passed near Tomball, TX

Thanks a lot, Jake.

Excellent photo of a special moment in American history.
PT7

Here's another.