After the nation and Washington D.C. pay their final respects to former President George H.W. Bush, he will make his final journey before being laid to rest in a Union Pacific train that honors him.
In 2005, a UP locomotive, bearing the number 4141 in Bush's honor, was debuted to much fanfare and the excitement of 41 himself.
Now, over a decade later, that same blue locomotive that wowed him, will transport Bush's body to his final resting place alongside his beloved wife and daughter in College Station, Texas. From Washington D.C., Bush's remains will be transported to Spring, Texas, just outside of Houston. Locomotive 4141 and Bush will then make the 70 mile journey to College Station where his final resting place on the grounds of his presidential library at Texas A&M.
In a statement, Union Pacific senior vice president Scott Moore said it was an honor to provide the trip for the former President. “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. Having a train like this pulled by a locomotive specifically about this man is just really unprecedented.”
Bush is the first President to make his final journey in a train since Dwight Eisenhower in 1969.