George Bush Locomotive Returns to the Area (One Last Time)
Former president, George Herbert Walker Bush, left us at age 94 on November 30. His passing reminded me of video I shot of the Union Pacific locomotive which had been painted in presidential blue and white to coincide with the opening of Bush's presidential library and museum in College Station, Texas in 2005. I posted the video on December 1. Thanks to attention from international media, it went viral and as of early Thursday morning, has 27,839 views! Thanks to everyone who watched it!
The video I posted was actually a decade old, having been recorded on October 31, 2008. UP 4141 led an intermodal train out of Los Angeles three days prior, traversed home rails to Kansas City and then BNSF's Transcon across Missouri and into Illinois. At Edelstein, it took the connection onto Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision. Before returning to home rails, however, another unit in the consist ran into trouble, and was set out at on the UP line at Broadmoor (near Bradford) for repairs. The train then resumed its journey.
UP 4141 visited the Peoria Sub in 2011, pulling a merchandise train. Work obligations probably prevented me from having a reunion with this unit. A year later, it was placed storage at North Little Rock, Arkansas. I never thought I'd see it again.
After the former president's passing, UP 4141 was brought out of storage to lead his funeral train from Spring to College Station, Texas on December 6. After that, the unit (with UP 1943, "Sprit of Union Pacific") began a tour of the UP system where employees could see the locomotive prior to its final retirement to the Bush library. The unit was at Proviso Yard (near Chicago) from Saturday, December 15 until Monday, December 17. Tuesday morning, UP 4141 and UP 1943 were hauled south on train MPRAS (Manifest, Proviso, IL to Alton & Southern) for their next display in the St. Louis area.
The video I posted was actually a decade old, having been recorded on October 31, 2008. UP 4141 led an intermodal train out of Los Angeles three days prior, traversed home rails to Kansas City and then BNSF's Transcon across Missouri and into Illinois. At Edelstein, it took the connection onto Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision. Before returning to home rails, however, another unit in the consist ran into trouble, and was set out at on the UP line at Broadmoor (near Bradford) for repairs. The train then resumed its journey.
UP 4141 visited the Peoria Sub in 2011, pulling a merchandise train. Work obligations probably prevented me from having a reunion with this unit. A year later, it was placed storage at North Little Rock, Arkansas. I never thought I'd see it again.
After the former president's passing, UP 4141 was brought out of storage to lead his funeral train from Spring to College Station, Texas on December 6. After that, the unit (with UP 1943, "Sprit of Union Pacific") began a tour of the UP system where employees could see the locomotive prior to its final retirement to the Bush library. The unit was at Proviso Yard (near Chicago) from Saturday, December 15 until Monday, December 17. Tuesday morning, UP 4141 and UP 1943 were hauled south on train MPRAS (Manifest, Proviso, IL to Alton & Southern) for their next display in the St. Louis area.
I caught it at Uptown Station in Normal in late morning, Tuesday. Video above shows the entire 91-car train.
- David P. Jordan
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