Historic RailPark & Train Museum

Discover the rich history of railroading at the Historic RailPark & Train Museum, featuring restored railcars, interactive exhibits, and a two-story museum in a 1925 depot.

Planning your visit

Bowling Green sat on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and the 1925 depot that now houses the RailPark museum was the town's connection to the wider country for decades. The two-storey museum inside covers regional railroading, the L&N's role in Kentucky, and the segregated realities of rail travel in the South, alongside model railroad layouts and interactive displays.

The restored rolling stock outside is the substance of the visit and is seen on guided tours: a Pullman sleeper, a dining car, a post office car where mail was sorted at speed, a caboose, and an E8 locomotive. Walking through a sorting car explains a vanished occupation — railway postal clerks worked moving trains, catching mailbags on hooks without stopping.

The Duncan Hines exhibit is a local curiosity: the restaurant-guide author whose name became a cake-mix brand was from Bowling Green.

The town is also home to the National Corvette Museum, which most visitors combine. Allow ninety minutes. Bookable options include entry with guided tour of the railcars, which is the format worth taking. Current availability is listed below.