Moments after the Union Pacific train carrying former President George H.W. Bush passed by, onlookers scrambled to the tracks to pick up a piece of history.
Many placed coins on the tracks to create their own souvenir for a day one Texan called an "experience of a lifetime."
"This is a memory, forever," another said.
President George H.W. Bush's funeral train includes a custom painted locomotive with colors and elements of Air Force One used during his presidency. It bears the number 4141.
The train passed through several intersections where people could watch:
- Old Town Spring
- I-45 near Spring Stuebner
- Holzwarth near Grand Parkway
- Mossy Oaks near Sumac
- Rothwood near Grand Parkway
- Gosling near Hassler
- Northcrest near Root Rd
- Hildebrandt near Root Rd
- Kuykendahl near Hufsmith Kuykendahl
- Stuebner Airline near Hufsmith Kuykendahl
- FM 2978 near E. Hufsmith
- Stanolind near Hufsmith Kohrville
- Hwy 249 at W. Rollingwood
- Hwy 249 at FM 149
- FM 1774 at Lone Star
- FM 1774 at FM 1488
The body of the former president is traveling from Houston to his final resting place in College Station. Bush will be laid to rest at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of Texas A&M University.
There is always a travel plan in place when a President passes away and President Bush specifically requested he be taken to his burial site by train. Bush is the eighth president to be taken by train for burial and the first since President Eisenhower.
"It's an opportunity for a large swath of people to show their thanks for someone who's done so much for this country," said Scott Moore, Senior Vice President of Union Pacific.