The passing of George H.W. Bush has brought the former president back into the minds of America. Many people are sharing stories, facts, and memories of the 41st President.
Earlier this week his son George W. Bush gave an emotional eulogy that left millions of us reaching for our tissues.
"Last Friday, When I was told he had minutes to live, I called him. The guy answering the phone said, "I think he can hear you, but he hasn't said anything for most of the day," the younger Bush tearfully told a cathedral-full of mourners. "I said, 'Dad, I love you, and you have been a wonderful father.' And the last words he would ever say on Earth were 'I love you, too.'"
The funeral brought notable names from around the world and even from across political aisles. President Trump sat next to former Democratic presidents Obama and Clinton. All sharing the national sense of loss.
The funeral events will continue as H.W. Bush's body is moved from Washington to a small plot in Texas, where he will be buried beside his wife Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who passed when she was 3 in 1953.
In recent years presidential remains have been flown to their final resting places, but Bush will be bringing back an old tradition that we haven't seen since Eisenhower died 49 years ago.
The casket carrying Bush will be traveling via train, but not just any train.
A beautiful blue and grey locomotive custom made for Bush will be transporting it's precious cargo. Called 4141, for the 41st president, it was commissioned by Union Pacfic in honor of the president.
It was first unveiled by Texas A & M university in 2005 and has been part of the funeral plans for years. The car carrying the casket has been retrofitted to allow for onlookers to see the flag-draped coffin as it passes by. It will be traveling 5 stops from suburban Houston to College station.
The elder Bush was a fan of traveling by rail, and is the last president to have done so to any large extent. When he saw it in 2005 he joked: "I might have left Air Force One behind," if the train was available during his presidency.
This will be the 8th presidential funeral train in US history. Abraham Lincoln was the first after his assassination, and Eisenhower the last.
Robert Kennedy was running for president when he was gunned down in 1968 and his body was also transported by train to Arlington Cemetery. Thousands of mourners lined the tracks waving goodbye to the former president's brother.
The final ride will take place on Thursday.
