z Wrote:
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> Surprised the secret service didn't restrict
> access for ten miles around the ROW

Secret Service would have been stricter if the incumbent president was on board and they were going some place where protesters might try to block tracks but this was friendly territory where people respected GHWB.
They may have told George W. Bush not to stand on platform.
The Secret Service does keep lists of people who have made threats to presidents and if they know the president or former president is going to be in the area where the person lives agents visit the person and "encourage" him or her not to come to the event.
I'm pretty sure law enforcement helicopters flew over crowds, police and Secret Service had some people in plain clothes trackside in addition to uniformed officers on roofs of nearby buildings close to the tracks watching for any suspicious activity. They could have halted the train if they saw something suspicious.
The whole point of the trip was to give people a chance to view the coffin and pay their respects so it would defeat part of the purpose of the train to keep people too far away.
This was all planned by the military according to family requests. I believe it was their wish that the train slow down in populated areas.