Historic RailPark & Train Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky

Written By Kelsey Cecil

Bowling Green, Kentucky · Updated October 19, 2026 · 12 min read

Depot museumOpen daily 10 am to 4 pm most of the year; closed Monday and Tuesday in winter

The Historic RailPark & Train Museum fills Bowling Green's 1925 limestone L&N depot with a two-story museum and leads guided tours through restored railcars on 450 feet of track behind it, telling the story of the railroad and the people who worked it.

  • 1925 limestone L&N depot
  • Guided railcar tour, 45 minutes
  • L&N president's car from 1911
  • Pullman Porter exhibits
  • Large model railroad exhibit
  • On the National Register

Historic RailPark & Train Museum at a glance

Hours
March to December: daily 10 am to 4 pm; January to March: Wednesday to Sunday 10 am to 4 pm, closed Monday and Tuesday
Admission
Adults $22, seniors 60+ $20, veterans $20, WKU students $20, ages 5 to 12 $14, 4 and under free, active military free; $5 off for museum only
Seasonal events
Polar Express Storytime, Festival of Trains, BG Wine Fest, Sip & Putt Mini Golf Scramble
Plan for
At least 1.5 hours
Best for
Families, school groups and history fans
Best ages
Ages 4 to 12
Parking
Free on-site lot off Kentucky Street, with complimentary bus parking for school groups
Accessibility
The indoor museum is fully accessible; the vintage railcars have steep steps and narrow hallways.

Hours and prices as the museum posts them, checked October 19, 2026. Confirm before you go.

Look inside the book

Taking the kids to Historic RailPark & Train Museum? Bring Rally along.

In Rally Takes the Train, a corgi's little legs can't manage the big train stairs, so Dad gives him a boost. It takes about five minutes to read, a good fit for the drive to Bowling Green.

Page 1 of 8

Rally Takes the Train book cover: a watercolor corgi peeking from a red train

Like it so far? See the full book

25 hand-painted pages, paperback, $13.99 with fast shipping from Amazon.

Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

Every page is real watercolor on paper, painted by hand by Leslie Dunn. Nothing in this book was made with AI.

The depot Bowling Green waited decades to get

Bowling Green's rail story goes back to 1858, when the first depot went up before L&N rails even reached town. During the Civil War the city mattered to both sides, and when Confederate troops withdrew in February 1862 they burned the depot and trains. Union soldiers built a wooden replacement that served for decades, but by the 1880s it was cramped and worn. L&N president Milton H. Smith refused to build a new one after local citizens chartered a competing railroad.

After Smith died, the current depot opened with great fanfare on October 2, 1925, built of limestone from the White Stone Quarry in southern Warren County. In the 1930s and 1940s more than 30 passenger trains a day stopped here, and the station was the largest employer in the county. Service faded after the interstates arrived, and the last passenger train left on October 6, 1979. The depot joined the National Register that December.

Concerned citizens saved the empty building and handed it to Warren Fiscal Court and the City of Bowling Green in 1997, and a twelve-year, five-phase renovation followed. An all-volunteer group, the Historic Railroad Committee, formed to bring authentic railcars to the depot and placed the first ones on display in May 2002. Now called Friends of L&N Depot, the 501(c)(3) opened the museum in 2007 and still runs it, putting every dollar from tickets, tours and the gift shop back into restoration and exhibits.

Two floors of exhibits and a train out back

You enter through the gift shop, where many visitors first spot the big model train layout from the award-winning sHOw Modular Model Railroad Club. The two-story self-guided museum fills the depot's original segregated waiting room. Interactive galleries let you put questions to a cook, an engineer and a conductor, learn the hobo code, and meet a Pullman Porter from the 1920s. Exhibits on the African American experience on the railroad, segregation and the Porters' role in labor rights are a central part of the story here.

Out back, 450 feet of track holds the railcars, which you see on a 45-minute guided tour. Docents take you aboard an E8 locomotive, a railway post office car, the Duncan Hines dining car, the 1953 Pullman sleeper Towering Pine and the 1911 office car of the L&N's president, with a Chessie caboose nearby.

Don’t miss

  1. L&N Office Car 353The personal car of the L&N's president, built in 1911 and the oldest remaining intact L&N equipment.
  2. L&N RPO 1107One of only two remaining L&N railway post office cars and one of four complete RPOs in the country.
  3. Towering PineA 1953 Pullman sleeper, one of only two survivors of the L&N's Pine sleeper series.
  4. Duncan Hines dining carA 1949 Pullman diner renamed for the original L&N car, still used for small catered meetings.
  5. L&N E8 796An E8A that represents the four the L&N ordered from General Motors, and the first stop on many tours.
  6. The Pullman Porter galleriesSet in the old segregated waiting room, these exhibits tell the story of the Porters and their fight for labor rights.

Climb aboard, ask the engineer, find the hobo code

Kids get to climb aboard the restored railcars on the guided tour, and the museum's talking railroaders and hobo code exhibits keep them busy upstairs and down. The model railroad near the entrance is often the favorite. Note that the museum does not offer train rides, and the vintage cars have steep steps and narrow hallways, so little legs may need a lift.

Children 4 and under get in free, and the 45-minute tour is a manageable length for most school-age kids. Each December, Polar Express Storytime brings the holiday story to the depot, and the caboose can be rented for birthday parties.

Plan your visit: tips for Historic RailPark & Train Museum

  • Railcar tours start at 15 minutes past each hour from 10:15 am to 3:15 pm; arrive 5 to 10 minutes early.
  • For the last tour, arrive 45 minutes to an hour ahead to see the museum first.
  • Call 270-745-7317 the day of your visit, since tour times can change daily.
  • No food or drink inside the museum.
  • Closed New Year's Eve and Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Each December the depot hosts Polar Express Storytime, scheduled for December 1 to 10 in 2026, a cozy way for young kids to hear the holiday classic in a real railroad station. The museum has also hosted a two-day Festival of Trains on the first weekend of December; check its events calendar for this year. For riding trains with Santa, see our list of Christmas train rides in Kentucky.

Friends of L&N Depot

The museum is run by Friends of L&N Depot, Inc., a nonprofit that began as an all-volunteer committee and manages the depot through an agreement with Warren Fiscal Court and the City of Bowling Green. Community volunteers restored the railcars, and every ticket, tour and gift shop purchase funds more restoration and exhibits. Membership, volunteering and donations are all welcome, and the depot can be rented for weddings, showers and parties.

Where to go next by rail

The Beech Creek Railroad Depot Museum in Muhlenberg County is about 41 miles away. Head south about 61 miles to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum in Nashville, or north about 65 miles to ride the Kentucky Railway Museum. Find more in our Kentucky train museum guide.

Every train museum in Kentucky

Bring Rally along: a train book for the drive

Watercolor view from inside a dark tunnel looking out at a sunny beach and cliffs
From Rally Takes the Train, watercolor by Leslie Dunn.

Polar Express Storytime in an old L&N depot sounds like the coziest December evening. Stories in a dark room have a way of making kids lean in. In our book, Rally's train rolls into a dark tunnel, then out into a big bright light and happy cheers, and my kids still cheer at that page. My mom imagined that moment. If your family wants a bedtime train story, browse our train books for toddlers.

Free for train families

Print the Rally coloring pages before you go

Watercolor coloring pages from the book, free to print. Tuck a few in a folder with crayons for the drive or the wait for the next train.

Get the free coloring pages
Rally Takes the Train book cover: a watercolor corgi peeking from a red train

A train story for the ride homeRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi's first train trip to see his grand-paw-rents. Hand-painted in real watercolor. $13.99 on Amazon, for ages 0 to 8.

Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

More for train families

Work or volunteer at Historic RailPark & Train Museum?

We want this page to be the best introduction to your museum on the web. Send new hours, event dates, corrections or photos to kelsey@rallytakesthetrain.com and we will update it. You are welcome to share this page with your members.

Sources

Everything on this page comes from the museum’s own website and social pages and, for history, Wikipedia, checked October 19, 2026.

Historic RailPark & Train Museum: 20 visitor questions

Where is the Historic RailPark & Train Museum in Bowling Green?

The Historic RailPark & Train Museum is at 401 Kentucky Street, Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101, inside the restored 1925 L&N depot. From I-65, take Exit 26 west on Cemetery Road, follow it about three miles as it becomes 6th Avenue, turn right on Kentucky Street, then left into the museum lot.

What are the Historic RailPark & Train Museum hours?

As of October 2026, the museum is open every day from 10 am to 4 pm from March through December 31. In the early months of the year it closes Mondays and Tuesdays and opens Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm; the site lists both March 1 and March 22 as the changeover, so check Facebook.

How much are Historic RailPark & Train Museum tickets?

As of October 2026, admission is $22 for adults, $20 for seniors 60 and up, veterans and WKU students with ID, $14 for children 5 to 12, and free for kids 4 and under and active military with ID. Prices cover the self-guided museum and the guided railcar tour.

Is there a cheaper ticket for just the museum?

Yes. The museum offers $5 off admission if you only want the self-guided museum and skip the guided railcar tour. That can suit families with very young children or anyone short on time. The museum accepts cash, travelers' checks, Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

What are the railcar tour times at the Historic RailPark?

Guided railcar tours leave at 10:15, 11:15, 12:15, 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15, and each lasts about 45 minutes. Times can change daily, so call 270-745-7317 the day of your visit. Arrive 5 to 10 minutes early for your chosen tour.

Can you ride a train at the Historic RailPark & Train Museum?

No. The museum is clear that it does not offer train rides. Instead, docents lead guided tours aboard restored railcars parked on 450 feet of track behind the depot, so you can walk through a locomotive, a dining car, a sleeper and the president's office car.

How long does a visit to the Historic RailPark take?

Allow at least an hour and a half. The guided railcar tour runs about 45 minutes, and the two-story self-guided museum takes a similar amount of time. If you are joining the last tour of the day, arrive 45 minutes to an hour early so you can see the exhibits on both floors first.

Which railcars are at the Historic RailPark & Train Museum?

The collection includes L&N E8 locomotive 796, L&N RPO 1107, the Duncan Hines dining car, the 1953 Pullman sleeper Towering Pine, L&N office car 353 from 1911, and a Chessie caboose. Wikipedia also lists an Army hospital car and an L&N segregation-era coach; ask which cars are on the current tour.

What exhibits are inside the Historic RailPark museum?

The two-story museum sits in the depot's original segregated waiting room. Interactive galleries let you ask questions of a cook, engineer and conductor, discover the hobo code, and meet a Pullman Porter from the 1920s. Exhibits also cover segregation, the Porters' contributions to labor rights, and Bowling Green's railroad history.

Is there a model train at the Historic RailPark & Train Museum?

Yes. Visitors entering through the gift shop see a large model train layout, a permanent exhibit by the award-winning sHOw Modular Model Railroad Club. It is a favorite with younger children and a good place to start or end a visit.

Is the Historic RailPark & Train Museum good for kids?

Yes. Kids can walk through real railcars on the tour, see the model railroad and use the interactive museum galleries. Children 4 and under are free. Keep in mind the vintage cars have steep steps and narrow hallways, and food and drinks are not allowed in the museum.

Is the Historic RailPark wheelchair accessible?

The indoor museum is fully accessible to people with disabilities. The railcars have limited accessibility because of steep steps, narrow hallways and tight doorways in the vintage equipment. Call 270-745-7317 before your visit to talk through options for the guided tour.

Does the Historic RailPark host birthday parties and events?

Yes. The caboose can be rented for birthday parties, the Duncan Hines diner for small catered meetings, and the depot for weddings, showers and office parties. Rentals are priced by the hour with a two-hour minimum. Call 270-745-7317 or email events@historicrailpark.com for a quote.

Does the Historic RailPark offer field trips and group tours?

Yes. Student groups of 15 or more pay $10 per student and $14 per teacher or chaperone, with bus drivers and bus parking free. Groups of 10 or more should call at least two weeks ahead. The museum asks for one adult per 10 students and allows sack lunches in designated areas.

Is there a Christmas event at the Historic RailPark?

Yes. Polar Express Storytime returns to the depot in December, with 2026 dates of December 1 to 10. The museum has also held a two-day Festival of Trains on the first weekend of December. Check the events calendar at historicrailpark.com for times and tickets.

What is the history of the Bowling Green L&N depot?

The depot opened October 2, 1925, the third L&N station in Bowling Green, built of Warren County limestone. In the 1930s and 1940s more than 30 passenger trains a day stopped here. The last left on October 6, 1979, and the depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places that December.

Who runs the Historic RailPark & Train Museum?

Friends of L&N Depot, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that began as the all-volunteer Historic Railroad Committee, runs the museum through an agreement with Warren Fiscal Court and the City of Bowling Green. All proceeds from admissions, tours and the gift shop go to restoration and exhibits.

Does the Historic RailPark run trolley tours?

Yes. The museum operates the Historic Bowling Green Trolley, which covers local history and is often paired with school visits. Group trolley rates are $20 per person for 15 or more, limited to 32 people. Email bgtrolleytours@historicrailpark.com for dates and bookings.

What do reviews say about the Historic RailPark & Train Museum?

Reviewers often mention the big model train set right at the entrance, the restored 1925 depot, and knowledgeable guides on the railcar tour. Many point to the Pullman Porter and segregation exhibits as especially moving. Tripadvisor and the museum's Facebook page carry recent reviews and photos.

What train museums are near the Historic RailPark in Bowling Green?

The Beech Creek Railroad Depot Museum in Muhlenberg County is about 41 miles away. The Tennessee Central Railway Museum in Nashville is about 61 miles south, the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven about 65 miles, and My Old Kentucky Dinner Train in Bardstown about 78 miles.

Keep exploring

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Kelsey Cecil
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