41's Final Ride: Bush 4141 Train Will Carry President's Casket

SPRING, TX — Texans from Houston to College Station will have a chance on Thursday to pay their final respects to former President George H.W. Bush as a special locomotive bearing the name Bush 4141, carries his body to his final resting place in College Station on Thursday.

The Bush 4141 Locomotive, painted in the colors of Air Force One, has been sitting in storage since 2005, waiting for the day when it would be needed to carry the beloved former president, known as 41 in some circles, on his final ride.

The news of that fateful day came on Friday when news of Bush's death by natural causes was announced, and the train was removed from storage and readied for this historic 70-mile journey.

“This particular train trip, going from Houston to College Station...is a great opportunity for Texans to say their final goodbyes to this great man, and being led by the Bush 4141 locomotive is a great tribute to the man and we are glad to be part of it,” said Scott Moore, Union Pacific’s vice president of corporate relations.

The Bush 4141 Locomotive was officially unveiled Oct. 18, 2005, during a ceremony near the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the Texas A&M University campus.

“When the Bush Library was having a transportation exhibition, one the things we decided to do to honor that, and the past president at the time, was to unveil the Bush 4141,” Moore said.

Mike Iden, retired Union Pacific general director,car and locomotive engineering, who was part of the team transformed the locomotive to look like Air Force One, recalled meeting Bush during that exhibition in 2005.

Iden said Bush was brought on board the locomotive and received a briefing from Iden on how the locomotive is operated by the crew members.

“It was at that point where President Bush asked, ‘Can I take this for a drive? Can I run it?’ We made the decision to bring him into the engineer seat...and give him a little training,” Iden said.

With an experienced engineer behind him, Bush piloted the locomotive for about two miles, Iden said.

This time, however, the beloved Bush 41 will be a passenger on his final ride on the train that bears his name.

The funeral train leaves Union Pacific's Westfield Auto Facility in Spring on Dec. 6 at 1 p.m., and will transport the presidential casket 70 miles to College Station.

The train will pass through several communities on this somber trip to College Station, starting in Spring, and continuing through Tomball, Magnolia, Todd Mission and Navasota.

The train and should arrive at College Station across from Kyle Field at 3:25 p.m. Bush will be buried next to his wife Barbara, who died earlier this year at his presidential library at Texas A&M University.

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Image: Courtesy Union Pacific

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