President Bush at the unveiling of the Union Pacific 4141 Locomotive, College Station, Texas.
The massive locomotive, covered by a deep blue tarp with the numbers “4141” on the side, rolled into College Station during late March. That same locomotive also arrived in College Station in early December 2018 — the first presidential train funeral since 1969, a poignant example of how railroads can not only bring people together but also create a significant bond within communities.
American flags and people from all over dressed in red, white, and blue, lined up on each side of the railroad track to pay their last respects as the casket carrying the nation’s 41st president, George H. W. Bush, arrived from Spring to be laid to rest. The funeral procession took approximately two-and-a-half hours as crowds waited along the 100-mile route.
More than a decade earlier, in October 2005, the same locomotive arrived at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which had staged an exhibit entitled “Trains: Tracks of the Iron-Horse.” Preparing for this exhibition had led the library’s director, Warren Finch, to Omaha, Nebraska, to the Union Pacific Railroad headquarters. Originally, he asked for a caboose but got an engine instead. “The CEO of UP offered us a brand-new locomotive, painted in the color scheme of Airforce One, No. 4141,” Finch says. UP No. 4141 stayed on a track outside of Kyle Field for the duration of the exhibit. It then traveled around the country as part of the UP fleet for about a year. “It was sort of a billboard for the library here at Texas A&M,” Finch says.
George H.W. Bush’s love for Texas A&M University has always been apparent, exemplified by his decision to place his presidential library at the school. The library and the Bush School of Government and Public Service named in his honor, both opened in 1997. Even though he was a Yale graduate, he was an Aggie at heart, and his association with the school spanned multiple decades, from the time he was a congressman, through his vice presidency and presidency, then after, until his death in 2018.
Equal to his love of the university was his love for trains. He grew up in an age where train travel was one of the most popular means of transportation. He took his grandchildren along with him on a California train trip, and he campaigned on a train during his second run for the presidency and.
The former president requested that his casket be put on the train and transported to College Station. According to Finch, Bush “told his chief of staff that it would be a perfect way to go to the funeral. Everyone will be eating sandwiches, hanging out on board, and she said ‘Well, President Bush, you won’t be eating lunch.’ He replied ‘That’s okay. I’ll be on the train.’”
In 2019, a year after Bush’s death, UP donated the locomotive to the George H.W. Bush Library and Museum, but it didn’t arrive again in College Station until this spring. “The locomotive was picked up off its tracks by two 500-ton cranes and then set down on a 12-axle trailer to be driven to the museum, according to Texas A&M University System press release. “Texas A&M should get a great deal of thanks because of how much they have helped prepare for the arrival of the locomotive. They excavated the site, laid concrete down, and then installed a pad for the locomotive to sit on,” Finch says.
The George and Barbara Bush Foundation is in the process of expanding the museum and the library in order to create another exhibit for a helicopter — the only one left from the fleet from the Reagan era through the Obama presidency whose interior has not been refurbished. The helicopter is being loaned by the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
Two acres of land next to the museum has been designated to expand the center for the helicopter display and for a restaurant. Meanwhile, the museum is in the process of designing a pavilion over No. 4141 to protect it from weathering. “It is still covered and probably will be for a while,” Finch says.
“It’s come full circle. It has gone from being part of an exhibit to carrying the president’s body and the family to College Station, and now it will be a permanent exhibit at the Presidential Library,” Finch says. “This will mean so much to future generations to have the train here, to show people George H.W. Bush’s love of railroads, and to talk about the life and legacy of this great man.” Finch says.
For more information, visit bush41.org.
