No good deed goes unpunished, as they say.
UPRR did a good deed by, first, applying a special paint job to engine 4141 to honor President Bush, whose Presidential library is online to Union Pacific. And they have taken good care of the locomotive for several years.
When the opportunity arose to offer the Bush family a funeral train, pulled by the 4141, UPRR again did a good deed.
The funeral train has turned the locomotive into an icon, as almost everyone in the US saw it on television, pulling the train with the late President's casket and his family aboard. Whether or not they voted for George Bush, most Americans respected him as a former President and a decent man, as evidenced by the crowds who lined the route of the funeral train.
And, now they are sending the locomotive on tour. UPRR created this. They should now take a deep breath and exhibit it for the public as well as for the employees. If they can manage a funeral train, they can manage the exhibition of the commemorative locomotive. People want to see it.
The alternative could be a negative story on network news, about families who were rudely told to leave UPRR property because the exhibition was for employees only. Was the paint job for employees only? Was the funeral train for employees only? Was the media announcement of the exhibition tour for employees only? It will be sad if someone at UPRR who clearly understands the big picture does not correct this before it becomes a smear on the good deeds of Union Pacific.
One "Aw-sh_t" cancels a hundred attaboys.
