George HW Bush train memorial photos, former president’s last ride – Business Insider

President George H.W. Bush’s body traveled via train to its final resting place in College Station, Texas, on Thursday, nearly a week after the 41st US president died at 94.

His casket was loaded aboard a locomotive numbered 4141, which had a car specially outfitted with clear side panels so people could pay their respects to the former commander in chief as the train rolled by, the Associated Press reported.

Thousands of people showed up to do just that — carrying flags and signs or placing coins along the tracks to be flattened by the memorial train.

The train traveled from Houston, where a second memorial service was held at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Memorial, where he was interred in the family plot with his wife, Barbara Bush, and daughter Robin Bush, who died at age 3 of leukemia.

It was the first train memorial procession in nearly 50 years. The most recent one was for President Dwight D. Eisenhower 49 years ago. The first, the AP reported, was for President Abraham Lincoln.

The former commander in chief died last Friday. His casket lay in state in the US Capitol Rotunda on Monday, and a service — attended by every living president— was held in Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday.