A special train, pulled by commemorative locomotive 4141 will bear the body of President Bush from Spring, TX to College Station.
From KETV Omaha, NE
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VERY FITTING!
I heard that 1943 is going to be in the consist as well.
President Bush 41 was a decent and good family man with an impressive resume of achievements. May he rest in peace!
(raises a glass)
Mitch
UP has included a link on their website that provides details of the Bush Funeral Train.
https://www.up.com/media/media_kit/bush41/index.htm
And I'll repeat here what I posted on the TRAINS Newswire a day or two ago. President Bush is the last President I can honestly say I admired. Mr. Bush was a man of honor and dedicated the better part of his life to the service of our country. We don't make them like him any longer.
Rest in peace Mr. President!
Curt
A veteran from a generation that served our country well.
Rest in peace Mr.President.
Curt: WELL STATED! Also KUDOS to UP for a CLASSY locomotive and a respectful funeral train!
Good job, UP.
As of a fee hours ago:
4141 is at the auto rack yard.
The passenger train is at the same place.
1943 IS NOT HERE AS OF A FEW HOURS AGO.
You can see 4141, but from a far distance. Camera angles are bad. Security is tight.
4141 looks in good shape. A locomotive 90xx in fresh paint was behind it. Diesel, not a three cylinder steamer!
Dominic Mazoch posted:4141 looks in good shape. A locomotive 90xx in fresh paint was behind it. Diesel, not a three cylinder steamer!
Figures, since the Union Pacific doesn't own any "three cylinder steamer"!
A good job by the U.P., and the 4141 looks great.
he was pro-railroad which should make him a favorite among us, but had an impressive list of accomplishments throughout his busy life. thank you #41......
Dang! "4141" is not a Big Boy, as this President merits.
41 gave so much that the UP cannot give him what he merits, and the nation surely didn't.
Gerry
Only 1 made of the SD70ACe in the this President Bush paint scheme I assume?
Yes, there is only one Cab #4141 rostered by UP.
I imagine there will be a lot of folks gathering along the right of way to try to get a glimpse of this historic train. Hopefully, there will be some safety planning to prevent any fatalities. Will there be a pilot hi-rail vehicle and helicoptors overhead?
Hot Water posted:Dominic Mazoch posted:4141 looks in good shape. A locomotive 90xx in fresh paint was behind it. Diesel, not a three cylinder steamer!
Figures, since the Union Pacific doesn't own any "three cylinder steamer"!
There is the 4-12-2 in LA. Nobody ever thought that a Big Boy would ever be restored to operation either...
Kelly Anderson posted:Hot Water posted:Dominic Mazoch posted:4141 looks in good shape. A locomotive 90xx in fresh paint was behind it. Diesel, not a three cylinder steamer!
Figures, since the Union Pacific doesn't own any "three cylinder steamer"!
There is the 4-12-2 in LA. Nobody ever thought that a Big Boy would ever be restored to operation either...
Except that 4-12-2, #9000, dos NOT belong to UP, plus it has plain bearings on the axles, a few of which have extensive axle journal damage and have been "blocked up", ever since she was donated. The UP "Big Three", i.e. 800 class 4-8-4s, 3900 class 4-6-6-4s, and 4000 class 4-8-8-4s have roller bearings on all axles. That 4-12-2 isn't going anywhere!
President George HW Bush was a first class man in every respect...will we ever know another such individual.
Bob
Hot Water posted:Kelly Anderson posted:Hot Water posted:Dominic Mazoch posted:4141 looks in good shape. A locomotive 90xx in fresh paint was behind it. Diesel, not a three cylinder steamer!
Figures, since the Union Pacific doesn't own any "three cylinder steamer"!
There is the 4-12-2 in LA. Nobody ever thought that a Big Boy would ever be restored to operation either...
Except that 4-12-2, #9000, dos NOT belong to UP, plus it has plain bearings on the axles, a few of which have extensive axle journal damage and have been "blocked up", ever since she was donated. The UP "Big Three", i.e. 800 class 4-8-4s, 3900 class 4-6-6-4s, and 4000 class 4-8-8-4s have roller bearings on all axles. That 4-12-2 isn't going anywhere!
UP didn't own #4014 until a few years ago. I've given up on saying "it will never happen" when it comes to what steam locomotive will be returned to service next (and no, I don't have any inside info regarding the 4-12-2, I'm just sayin').
Aren't "they" : Strasburg, Steamtown, Age of Steam, etc. restoring, maybe with roller bearings, older locos and running them....not that pots of money aren't required?
Not driving wheels, that would require new frames. Also, I wouldn't want to deal with a crank axle, roller bearing combo.
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Me thinks this thread has wandered WAY off course...
Rusty
UP 1943 headed the second train (4141 headed the train with the casket and immediate family members, the second section had everyone else going there). I've heard that the President's casket was loaded onto UP's baggage car, the one with the giant US flag down the side. Very fitting.
Very photos are online of the actual funeral train. I could only find this and I have no idea if this is from the actual funeral train or not:
I have yet to read anything official about UP 4141 being stuffed and mounted for the Presidential library, but like many here, I really hope that comes to pass.
Official Schedule:
Thursday, December 6, 12:30 p.m. CST Departure Ceremony Union Pacific Railroad Westfield Auto Facility
Thursday, December 6, 3:45 p.m. CST Arrival Ceremony Texas A&M University
Procession is under way from the church in Houston to the UP Yard, right now.
Live shot of 4141 with train, standing by at Spring, TX on FOX just now. 2nd Unit is standard UP paint. could not see the number.
C-SPAN is probably the best bet for uninterrupted coverage, without the "yapping heads".
Good look at the train right now. Unsure how long this feed will last
The shot of the secret service guy coming out of the nose of Train Force One made me smile. Presidential seal on the baggage car as well.
Nick Chillianis posted:Live shot of 4141 with train, standing by at Spring, TX on FOX just now. 2nd Unit is standard UP paint. could not see the number.
9096
Rusty
I'm waiting on Lionel's diecast rendition of the bush funeral train, I would shell out the premium for it.
Watching the c-span coverage now
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Nice video on FOX News Channel. Multiple cameras mounted on 4141.
Magnificent train! Could not have been done more tastefully. Union Pacific is to be congratulated. #4141 is a real beauty!
Some really unique footage being shown on the local stations aboard 4141.
I've seen the black and white video of Bobby Kennedys funeral and tried to imagine what the route looked like with all of those people. We're seeing it happen today. Really amazing stuff.
Notch 6 posted:Some really unique footage being shown on the local stations aboard 4141.
I've seen the black and white video of Bobby Kennedys funeral and tried to imagine what the route looked like with all of those people. We're seeing it happen today. Really amazing stuff.
Back some 13 or 14 years ago, the UP put together a special executive passenger train, hauled by Challenger #3985, for former President Bush's sky-dive on his 80th or 81st birthday (thinned the billed it as '41 at 80' or '41 at 81'). We did the same routine at Spring, Texas and took all the dignitaries north to College Station for the "big landing" of GHWB on the grounds of the Presidential Library. Most of the Bush family were aboard the train, including the former First Lady, Barbara, plus the former head of Russia, Gorbachev. The Secret Service folks were all over the place, with even a member in the cab of 3985 plus quit a few in the UP Crew Car. It didn't take long for the Secret Service folks to notice that quite a few of the same vehicles kept showing up at many grade crossings, during the northbound trip, and they started to become quite concerned. A number of us in the Crew Car began explaining to the different agents, that there was no need to worry, as rail buffs travel from all over the world whenever Challenger 3985 operates, especially when there has been an advance notice. Once they realized what was really happening, they became more "relaxed", however there was really no joking with ANY of those Secret Service Agents! The UP Special Agents took it all in stride.
After we dropped everybody off at the Texas A&M site in College Station, we took the whole train north to some big junction out in the middle of no place, wyed the whole thing, then proceeded back south to College Station in order to take the dignitaries back to Spring. One of the highlights for the UP Steam Crew was meeting many of the Bush grandkids, and providing each of them with a "UP Steam" ball cap. When GHWB landed in his parachute, all the kids ran out to greet him, on national TV, with their "UP Steam" caps on, much to the chagrin of the UP "logo nazi", who was raising all sorts of fuss over unauthorized use of UP corporatists logos! Great fun.
This is fantastic to watch. The amount of people lining the rails is staggering.
best part so far was the school kids that were all lined up. Looked like the teachers put up cones with a rope to keep the kids about 15 feet back from the track. Very smart.
