# MTH President Bush casket car



## seayakbill (Jan 16, 2016)

Received the President George Bush casket baggage car yesterday from Pats Trains. MTH did an excellent job with the paint and casket. Difficult to get a clear picture of the casket due to reflection from the plastic that seals the door opening. 

Will have to dig out my MTH Bush 41 diesel with some additional UP passenger cars to recreate the funeral train.

Bill


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## Norton (Nov 5, 2015)

Does it come with a door to replace the clear plastic? I have one of these coming but planned to use it in the Excursion train.

Pete


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## seayakbill (Jan 16, 2016)

Norton said:


> Does it come with a door to replace the clear plastic? I have one of these coming but planned to use it in the Excursion train.
> 
> Pete


Pete, no extra doors were included with the casket car.

Bill


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## Spence (Oct 15, 2015)

Hard to see a clear view as you stated but glad your happy with the car.


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2019)

Nice car Bill and a bit different than the norm. As long as you can see the casket in person all is good.


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## Norton (Nov 5, 2015)

seayakbill said:


> Pete, no extra doors were included with the casket car.
> 
> Bill


Well thats a shame. The catalog describes the door being able to be opened to display the casket. Also they have the flags and open door on the wrong sides given how it ran. The catalog shows it correctly.



















I was hoping to use this car both as it appeared for the funeral that one day and how its used every other day.

Pete


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## seayakbill (Jan 16, 2016)

With the lights on inside the car you get a better photo of the casket

Bill


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2019)

First of all: This is a beautifully done car. It's stunnung really. Better still, it honors a great American War Hero and President. It's a well deserved honor and and an eye-catching rendition. If the doors closed, I'd buy one. 

I'm not sure how I would use this car with the Flag draped casket always visible. It's a little too morbid for me or maybe just too sad. I'm not sure, but I just can't see myself running that around my layout. Maybe I would on President's Day, that seems fitting. The rest of the time I think it would remind me of my inevitable future instead of my nostagic childhood. I'm having trouble putting my finger on it, but for some reason, this car makes me a little uncomfortable.

Does anyone else have the same reaction or am I just looking at this all wrong? 

Emile


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## Craignor (Jan 9, 2016)

Emile,

Not for me either. I don’t want to have a funeral train. 

But, others seem to be interested, so there is a shoe for every foot.:thumbsup:


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## Norton (Nov 5, 2015)

Emile, I am of the same mind. There might be occasions at a show I would run a funeral train but most of the time it would be the Excursion train or business train. Thats why I am disappointed they didn't include working doors, especially since the catalog explicitly states it would. Had I known it would be delivered this way I would have gotten the previous version Council Bluffs. A block of wood and print a flag if you wanted to duplicate this.
Now have to cast a pair of doors and try and print the covering to match. 

Pete


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## Guest (Jun 10, 2019)

Emile, I don't think there's a wrong or right way to look at this. I see it as a tribute to President Bush and I don't think it's morbid, but we are all different.


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## rgs455 (Sep 19, 2015)

I was hoping it had doors that closed as well.


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## SDIV Tim (Nov 19, 2015)

If anyone has a Railking model on order, can you share a photo so we can see what it looks like?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mackerel (Oct 9, 2018)

I could see this (and maybe similar cars) as something that should be run on special occasions/holidays. Certainly I wouldn't run this on the layout normally.

But it is a beautiful tribute for sure.


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## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

I see it more as a shelf display with the rest of the train instead of a runner on the layout. Like some say, maybe run it for special occasions.


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## 86TA355SR (Feb 27, 2015)

TheBigCrabCake said:


> Does anyone else have the same reaction or am I just looking at this all wrong?
> 
> Emile


When the announcement was made about this train, I thought the same, not really interested in operating it. Possibly a display only item but I'm still uneasy about it. Not sure why, I just am.

My hats off to MTH, they blew Lionel out of the water getting this announced, produced, and delivered. Lionel hasn't even produced a catalog announcement about this train. 

Thanks for the pictures, it looks very nicely done. I own the original MTH "Council Bluff" car with a JS painted door, fabulous model and the only version available until Lionel's Excursion Train variant was released, a very accurate model of this popular car!


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## Millstonemike (Aug 9, 2018)

I'm in prewar tinplate. But I wouldn't want the funeral car if I was into more modern trains. Now the 4141 engine is a tribute w/o any reservations. I saw a video of Bush at the controls and he was smiling the whole time.


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## CHOO-CHOO MIKE (Nov 5, 2015)

Does MTH sell doors so I can put them in.
No disrespect to the president but I would prefer half doors so I can turn it into a party car on the way to Cheyenne Frontier Days


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## Norton (Nov 5, 2015)

You would have to contact Midge at MTH and see if they have any doors from the previous runs. To install them you would have to remove the clear plastic used to cover the door opening.
A door could be made with a resin casting but duplicating the paint would be the difficult part. I was going to pursue this using adhesive backed vinyl printed using an actual photo but now have a Lionel Council Bluffs from the Excursion set for non funeral train runs.
Mine arrived today. MTH has really upped their game as far as detail and fit and finish is concerned. 

More pics later.

Pete


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