A Students View – Travel Critique of the RailPark #3
By: Tyler Wheatley
We’re back with the 3rd installment of our “A Students View” series. In this week’s blog post, we have shared some insight from Tyler Wheatley from his visit and critique of the RailPark.
Here’s what he had to say about visiting with us:
The Historic RailPark & Train Museum is a destination in Bowling Green, Kentucky that allows you to experience and get a deeper look in to train travel from the 1900’s. It was once known as the L&N Depot because it was a midpoint between Louisville and Nashville. At this destination you get to experience the historic railcars they used and the different purposes of each railcar on the tracks. The depot has been turned into a museum where you can read through the history of the converted depot and the rich history the trains and artifacts have and their importance. At the RailPark you can take a tour of the train cars they have preserved that shows the history of the train cars and the purpose they served. Along with the train cars they have a museum that has artifacts and information on the railways and the history of trains and the railroads from the years past. I selected this destination because I wanted to learn more about the RailPark and thought it would be a unique experience. This destination sounded interesting, and I want to know more about the history behind it.
The RailPark did a good job of identifying their target markets and made the attraction interesting for all to go to. One of the target markets is families with kids between the ages of 6-12, and I believe that they incorporated things in their museum that would attract families, such as actually getting to tour the rail cars. They also had some interactive videos and boards along the tour which allows children to touch things and feel a part of the tour and not get bored. It also allows the parents to teach their kids a little bit of history and see them enjoy the experience.
Another target audience is historians, and the museum did a great job of identifying this market because there is a lot of historical information and artifacts. There was a lot of knowledge to be learned at this destination while walking around the museum and experiencing the railcar tour. The tour guide did a great job of explaining the process of how everything worked along the train and there were artifacts and informational boards for us tourists to read along the way. The third target market was students ranging between high school and college. I can vouch that they did a great job of targeting us because I felt included during the tour and learned a lot of information that was interesting and good to know.
This destination overall had more positives than negatives and I think they do a great job of showing the significance of Trains from the 1900’s. As a museum this destination does a great job of being passionate about the history of Railcars and Trains and gives a great experience to their visitors. The museum was in good condition and portrayed a great picture of the historical significance of rail cars and had lots of facts about trains and the railroad industry. They attract their target market and give the tourist a great experience when going to the museum. The museum does a great job of explaining the relevance of trains to Bowling Green. The tour guide explained that the train station was in a great destination because it is the midpoint between Louisville and Nashville. It is important to Bowling Green because it allows tourists to come to the city and the locals to travel throughout this region.
