INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Station, Texas, revealing a two-toned blue locomotive standing nearly 16 feet tall and bearing the number 4141 in his honor, former
Bush looked around excitedly, his face breaking into a smile.One word left his lips: Wow.Thirteen years later, that same Union Pacific
locomotive will escort the 41st president to his final resting place in College Station on Thursday afternoon after funeral ceremonies in
Washington and Houston.The train carrying his remains will leave a Union Pacific Railroad facility in Spring, a community north of Houston,
and travel the 70 miles to College Station
Bush will be buried there, alongside his late wife and daughter, on the site of his presidential library at Texas AM University.The
locomotive, painted the same blue colors that adorned Air Force One during Bush's presidency, was unveiled by the company in October 2005
At the time, Bush was fascinated by the train's mechanics and asked whether he could take it for a spin, according to Mike Iden, a retired
Union Pacific general director of car and locomotive engineering.After some brief training and under the supervision of an engineer, "the
former president operated the locomotive for about two miles," Iden said.An Associated Press article at the time said the unveiling stirred
memories in Bush of his childhood travels with his family
"We just rode on the railroads all the time, and I've never forgotten it," the AP quoted Bush as saying.During previous centuries, numerous
presidents incorporated trains into their funeral proceedings
Abraham Lincoln's body - with that of his son, Willie, who had died three years earlier - was carried by train more than 1,600 miles from
Washington to Springfield, Ill
The slain leader's portrait was affixed to the front of the engine for the entirety of the trip.The remains of Ulysses Grant, James
Garfield, William McKinley, Warren Harding and Franklin Roosevelt also took their final journeys by rail
The last such cortege, for Dwight Eisenhower in 1969, involved a specially prepared baggage car
The train traveled through seven states - Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri - before reaching its
final destination in Kansas."It's an opportunity for a large swath of the population to pay their final respects to someone who has done so
much for our country," Scott Moore, a Union Pacific senior vice president, noted in a news release Saturday about the plans for Bush's
"Having a train like this pulled by a locomotive specifically about this man is just really unprecedented."The route from Spring to College
Station will pass through several towns, including Hufsmith, Pinehurst, Magnolia and Navasota
Hufsmith is barely a dot on the map these days
As the Texas State Historical Association details, "By the 1980s only a cemetery, an abandoned railroad station and scattered dwellings
remained."But two miles away, the mayor of Tomball fondly remembers Bush's visit for the city's centennial celebration in 2007
It was the first time a president past or present had been there, according to news reports at the time."He came out, and we presented him
with a key to the city, and he actually kissed me on the cheek," Mayor Gretchen Fagan said
"My mother-in-law said that she got home and there were messages on her voice mail saying, 'Oh my gosh, the president of the United States
just kissed your daughter-in-law!' "Bush took pictures with people for over an hour after the event
"It was such a pleasure," Fagan recalled
"The people of Tomball were just so excited."Navasota Mayor Bert Miller says he's not sure whether Bush ever visited the city, but he has
memories campaigning for him in 1980."I remember - with my grandfather - doing some politicking for him back when he was vice president with
President (Ronald) Reagan," Miller said Saturday
"I was real young at the time."Navasota is about 20 miles from Bush's presidential library at Texas AM, where Miller has been "many times."
Touring the library is listed as one of the "things to do" on the Visit Navasota website.The former president had been a regular fixture on
Texas AM's campus since his library opened there in 1997
According to its website, he occasionally dropped in on classes at the Bush School of Government and Public Service and was even spotted at
the rec center when in good health.By car, the ride from Houston to College Station typically takes 90 minutes, but the announced schedule
for Locomotive 4141 will be twice as long
The university said Saturday that the president's casket would be unloaded at a railroad stop near campus
The funeral procession will then travel down George Bush Drive, with a brief arrival ceremony followed by a private interment
The campus will be closed Thursday.At the locomotive's unveiling in 2005, Bush stuck his head out of a window and flashed Texas AM's
familiar "gig 'em" sign: a thumbs up.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is
published from a syndicated feed.)
