Bay Windows in Kentucky

outhern #X351 is preserved in DeLancey Park in the village of Cannel City, Kentucky, in the eastern region of the state. The caboose sits behind the small post office and adjacent to a stone school building built in 1936. This cab is a long-body Gantt-built mainline car with no blanked-over windows. As of 2024, the carbody is in good physical shape but the paint is need of rehabilitation. Original Southern lettering and numbering remain, but all technical data has been painted over. Aluminum window frames are unpainted, and remnants of Southern's safety slogans can be found on the platform sides.

A retired Southern bay window is on display at the north end of Norfolk Southern's small yard in Danville, Kentucky. The car bears no NS road number, and its original Southern road number cannot be determined — although the faded frame marking indicates it started with X4xx. Body stenciling indicates it was repainted for display by NS Chattanooga shops in 1996. Windows have been tinted and an air conditioner unit has been added to one of the bay window section, but otherwise this car remains a good example of a mainline bay built new for road service on the Southern.

outhern #X443 is beautifully preserved on outdoor display at the Erlanger Historical Society in Erlanger, Kentucky — a southern suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. The society is housed in the Southern Railway depot opened in 1877, thought to be one of the oldest surviing wooden depots on the former Cincinnati Southern mainline. Appliances on the carbody suggest the caboose was built for mainline service (axle-mounted generator and inline battery compartment), but the car has been repainted with yellow bay window sections typical of cabs intended for local freight service. As of 2024, the car features accurate caboose red paint with yellow highlights, but non-prototypical lettering, numbering, and technical markings have been applied. Couplers and roller bearing caps have been painted silver. Otherwise, X443 is in great shape and sits displayed on a short piece of track immediately behind the depot. The Railroad Depot Park is adjacent to a small yard on a the busy Norfolk Southern mainline north to Cincinnati.

outhern #X666 is preserved on display in the parking lot of Eubank City Park in Eubank, Kentucky, south of Lexington. The car is mounted on a short display track and a large deck structure has been built around it. This caboose is good example of an early bay window later rebuilt by the Southern for continued mainline freight service. The four side windows nearest the bay outcroppings have all been welded over, and other welded patches can been seen around the carbody. The caboose retains a Southern caboose red, but all the railroad markings have been painted over. Instead, the car is marked for the town and its sports teams. The original Southern road number remains stenciled on the underbody centerbeam.

outhern #X554 is beautifully preserved on outdoor display at the Ludlow Railfan Tower in Ludlow, Kentucky. Ludlow is located on the south shore of the Ohio River, just southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. Built in 2018, the two-story railfan tower provides a safe vantage point for watching freight trains on the busy Norfolk Southern mainline into Cincinnati. The caboose is displayed on a short section of track; metal stairs have been affixed to one end for easy entrance. Other than the roof painted black, the car sports authentic paint: Southern caboose red with correct yellow highlighting. Lettering, numbering, and technical data are all accurate; the windows retain their correct aluminum frames, and the axle-mounted generator is in place. Happily, Southern safety slogans have been reapplied to the platform ends.

outhern #X685 is displayed outdoors adjacent to the McKinney Depot Restaurant in McKinney, Kentucky, an unincorporated community south of Lexington on the busy Norfolk Southern Mainline to Knoxville. Numbered in the 600 series, the car represents the older panel carbody cabooses that were rebuilt for second generation mainline service. Riveted carbody seams are apparent on both sides of the car, and the bay window sections have folded-down cap sections. Two of the four side windows were blanked over in the rebuilding. A window air conditioner has been added; the car's axle-mounted generator has been removed. Prototypical Southern lettering has been retained, but all other numbering and technical data have been painted over.

outhern #X589 is preserved outdoors in the Warring Pavilion Park in the railroad town of Sadieville, Kentucky, south of Cincinnati, Ohio. The caboose sits on a raised display area next to a pavilion on one side and a large railroad mural on the other. The town's historic Cincinnati Southern depot, now the town hall, is across Pike Street and near the busy Norfolk Southern mainline. This caboose is in good physical shape, a long-body car built new for mainline service. Correct Southern lettering and numbering are retained, although most of the technical markings are absent. Red marker lights are intact, but the axle-mounted generator has been removed. Otherwise, X554 is a good example of a mainline cab at the time of retirement.

outhern #X365 is well preserved on outdoor display at corner of East Main and Rice Streets in downtown Wilmore, Kentucky. The corner display is called the Railside Caboose Museum, and sits adjacent to the busy Norfolk Southern north-south mainline to Knoxville, Tennessee. This caboose is a long-body steel car built new for mainline service in the 1970s. As of 2024, its sports fresh Southern caboose red and retains all of its expected appliances. New non-prototypical lettering and numbering have been applied, and the car bears the logo of the RJ Railroad Group — operator of several shortlines in the region. A steam-era passenger cart is displayed outside on one side of the car.