A state funeral was held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday for former President George H.W. Bush, at the Washington National Cathedral, and a second funeral was held Thursday morning at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, where he and former First Lady Barbara Bush often worshipped.
However, the trip carrying Bush to his final resting place was taken by train on a two and a half-hour ride through small-town America on Thursday, where thousands of Texans stood along the train tracks, and at every crossing, in every town, paying their last respects.
People waving, holding flags, and just standing in respect all along the journey are seen in videos of the journey.
In one town, several school buses were seen parked along the road, and school children were all standing beside the road as they train passed by.
The train is powered by a specially designed locomotive, called “Locomotive 4141” and is painted to resemble the Air Force One presidential airplane.
ABC News reported: “Arrangements for his presidential funeral train took years of complicated planning, but one detail worked out just the way President George H.W. Bush would have wanted: the engineer and conductor are two veterans who served in the Navy just as he did.”
WATCH: Mourners line the track as train carrying former President George H.W. Bush passes by en route to his presidential library in College Station, Texas. pic.twitter.com/W3f7lXoRlp
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 6, 2018
WATCH: Thousands are lining the route for the train that is carrying George H.W. Bush to his burial site in College Station, Texas, video from Bush spokesperson Jim McGrath shows. pic.twitter.com/VKcZR4b9kK
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 6, 2018
POWERFUL: President H.W. Bush’s 1989 inaugural address is played over footage of his funeral train taking the former president to his final resting place. https://t.co/Gg0FeAaGOZ pic.twitter.com/oyXjV3HO2V
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 6, 2018
According to reports, George and Barbara Bush planned the trip themselves, arranging for their family to ride on the train. Their planning even included the meal that their family would be served aboard the train.
ABC News also reported:
The train will slow down when it passes through towns so mourners along the tracks can pay their respects. The car carrying the president’s remains was outfitted with transparent Plexiglass, according to Union Pacific, so people can see the flag-draped casket.
The presidential funeral train ride will be the first in almost 50 years, when a train carried President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s remains from Washington to his home state of Kansas.
CLIP: President George H.W. Bush Union Pacific Train Ride #Bush41 pic.twitter.com/NdOZ0EQwyT
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 6, 2018
Pres. George H.W. Bush’s casket embarks on ceremonial train ride in Texas en route to his final resting place at Texas A&M University. https://t.co/UzpEFpQ2gF pic.twitter.com/md5BGG3sKP
— ABC News (@ABC) December 6, 2018
LIVE: Train carrying former President George H.W. Bush journeys to his final resting place in College Station, Texas. https://t.co/wl7qwi58wI
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 6, 2018
Pres. George H.W. Bush’s casket, as well as family and staff, board the funeral train in Texas, which will travel on a 70-mile journey today to his presidential library were he will be laid to rest. https://t.co/Gg0FeAaGOZ pic.twitter.com/Ue40eb3n8Z
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 6, 2018
Pres. George H.W. Bush’s funeral train begins its 70-mile journey to his presidential library where he will be laid to rest next to wife and former First Lady Barbara Bush. https://t.co/Gg0FeAaGOZ pic.twitter.com/m6wk8xathg
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 6, 2018
George H.W. Bush’s casket travels to final resting place alongside wife Barbara and daughter Robin. The former president will travel to his final resting place in this one-of-a-kind train: https://t.co/xJ1x4dOLls pic.twitter.com/zBNaPG2kLr
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 6, 2018
George H.W. Bush’s final journey will be by train as his casket is taken from Houston to Texas A&M in a clear-sided baggage car #Remembering41 https://t.co/XWpFKxfqKb pic.twitter.com/xVM3phqh6S
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) December 6, 2018
A locomotive dubbed 4141 will be used to pull the funeral train of George H.W. Bush as the 41st president’s remains are carried to his final resting place. https://t.co/ncxTSWM3J3
— AP Central U.S. (@APCentralRegion) December 6, 2018
This special train will carry former President George H.W. Bush to his final resting place pic.twitter.com/GASXpexYeL
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) December 6, 2018
Here’s the history behind the Presidential Train Car that will transport George H.W. Bush https://t.co/dWB8M8fNt3 via @usatoday
— Kristen DelGuzzi (@kristendel) December 6, 2018
The late President George Herbert Walker Bush in the cab of Union Pacific 4141, an SD70ACe painted in his honor in 2005. It had been in storage at UP’s Jenks shops in North Little Rock since 2012, held for the eventual duty of leading the President’s funeral train. pic.twitter.com/OWsip2Nt79
— John H Walker (@Jwdelta1) December 5, 2018
The engineer and conductor at the helm of No. 4141, the presidential funeral train, were hand-picked for the job. They know the route, they’ve been with Union Pacific for over a decade and, like Bush was, they’re both @USNavy vets.https://t.co/YLWCWUhFPc
— Cheyenne Haslett (@cheyennehaslett) December 6, 2018
PHOTO: The flag-draped coffin of former President George H.W. Bush travels by train to College Station, Texas where he is to be buried at his presidential library. Clear panels were installed so people could see the casket as it passed. https://t.co/keD8Yz9S8h pic.twitter.com/WNqFNfRHxG
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) December 6, 2018
A lifelong Republican, I left the Party because of the Bushes and unlike the hypocrites who program us to revere politicians and venerate those who pass, I refuse to do so.
That said, the Bush family deserves all credit for producing the most beautiful and dignified funeral services I have ever seen. What a wonderful tribute to their father!