Union Pacific 4141 will take former President H.W. Bush to his resting place in College Station. He is preceded by 7 US presidents who had funeral trains; Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, FDR & Eisenhower.
It is said President Bush loved trains and even drove UP 4141 a few miles. The locomotive was re-painted in the Air Force One colors.
Richard
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
It will be interesting to see what media coverage of the movement there will be.
The Spring TX UP facility is closed to the public, so will or won't there be coverage by media of the train's departure?
I doubt if the media will be in the "train chasing" game, but many a fan down there will surely be. Some of their chasing will surely find its way on to YouTube. Railfan drones? Probably as welcome as mosquitoes at an outdoor event.
I think the only clips to find their way into general circulation media will be the arrival at Texas A&M.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
A segment aired today on NPR's "All Things Considered":
CBS morning show had a segment in it including when GHWB was the engineer a few years ago. Glad to see UP has a sense of public service (and good PR) unlike some other soulless railroads.
Posted by The Chief (Member # 2172) on :
Passenger Consist Railforce One President George H.W. Bush Funeral Train BUSH 4141 1-City of Portland Dome Diner 8008 2-City of San Francisco Dome Lounge 9009 3-Council Bluffs Baggage Car 5769 4-Lone Star Business Car 101 5-Harriman Dome Lounge 9004 6-Overland Diner Lounge 302 7-Portola Deluxe Sleeper 1610 8-City of Denver Diner 5011 9-Walter Dean Dome Lounge 9005 10-Kenefick Business Car 119 6 December 2018 Spring, Texas-College Station Texas Lead Loco UP 4141
...AFIK
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Possibly I missed such, but I have not heard Dvorak's Symphony #9 Second Movement, or "Going Home".
Train is now moving. Fox News must have railfan camera crew. They aired a complete "run-by".
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
The 2nd movement of the New World Symphony ("Going Home") would be most appropriate to be heard as 4141 passes by. Dvorak was a huge fan of trains and railroads.
Gil, it was played at least once yesterday, I think on the tarmac at Andrews. PS: I'm sure you are aware that Dvorak derived it from the negro spiritual which he heard while visiting the "new world."
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Today I couldn't be prouder to be a Union Pacific shareholder. The Baggage Car with the President's casket is tastefully marked with "Proud Heritage, Powerful Future". The train was immaculate, and Fox News gave excellent rail coverage. Even when breaking for ads, they still showed an inset of the train.
I'm "not exactly" a regular Fox News viewer; likely just as well they cannot view their viewers, for I had the sound muted - while I read my New York Times!!
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
I enjoyed it as well. C-SPAN should repeat or have it online or On Demand for those who missed it. Very interesting to me about Dvorak; previously I always thought of rock and roll and bluegrass, not classical music, in conjunction with trains!
Mr Norman, glad you are "not exactly a regular Fox News viewer," would hate to hear you'd been Stepfordized!
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
What a shame to hear politics creeping into this forum. Spoken as one who is ‘not exactly’ a CNN viewer. Too bad even our news outlets are polarized. Let’s get back to trains.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
quote:Originally posted by palmland: What a shame to hear politics creeping into this forum. Spoken as one who is ‘not exactly’ a CNN viewer. Too bad even our news outlets are polarized. Let’s get back to trains.
Hear, hear.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
Hello, hello! Anybody home?
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
I'm here, George. Merry Christmas to all on the forum.
I wish Union Pacific could run the 4141 consist as a heritage train, at least a few times a year along various UP track. I'll bet there would be a 2 year waiting list for tickets and UP could charge whatever outlandish fare desired. People would drool for a chance at such an excursion.
I'm glad I had a chance to ride a few private passenger trains before Amtrak. Amtrak will never equal that experience.