Denver & Rio Grande Western K-28 is a class of ten narrow gauge

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 2-8-2

2-8-2

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...

, Mikado type, steam railway locomotives, built as freight locomotives in 1923 by the Schenectady Locomotive Works

Schenectady Locomotive Works

The Schenectady Locomotive Works built railroad locomotives from its founding in 1848 through its merger into American Locomotive Company in 1901.After the 1901 merger, ALCO made the Schenectady plant its headquarters in Schenectady, New York....

 of the American Locomotive Company

American Locomotive Company

The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...

 for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. They were the first new narrow gauge locomotives ordered by the railroad since 1903. They initially comprised class 190, but were reclassed K-28 in 1924 when the railroad reorganized into the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.

In later years they were tasked with carrying express passengers on the narrow gauge such as the San Juan from Alamosa to Durango, The Silverton from Durango to Silverton and the Shavano

Shavano (passenger train)

The Shavano was a named passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad between Salida and Gunnison, Colorado. The train, named for nearby Mount Shavano, operated over the railroad's historic narrow gauge route over Marshall Pass...

 from Salida to Gunnison.

White Pass & Yukon

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, seven of them were taken by the US Army for use on the White Pass and Yukon Route

White Pass and Yukon Route

The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the...

 in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and the Yukon

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

. The locomotives which went there were renumbered USA 250–256, worked hard and then scrapped in Seattle after the war. The Durango & Silverton

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is a narrow gauge heritage railroad that operates of track between Durango and Silverton, in the US state of Colorado...

inherited the other three when it took over the Silverton Branch in 1981. Number 473 is operational while 476 is in the Museum at Durango awaiting major repairs, with 478 currently being rebuilt.

The K-28s today

Due to their smaller size, these engines are often used on the Durango & Silverton for shorter trains, usually the first or last on the schedule, and often for helper service or sectioned trains. Despite being smaller than the K-36 class locomotives, a little older and less powerful, the engine crews tend to favor a trip on these engines because the design ALCO used was superior in balance and servicing. Firing can be tricky when the engine is working hard, as the clamshell style firedoors tend to pull into the backhead of the boiler due to the draft, and if any flues in the boiler are leaking, the loss of draft on the fire is much harder to work around than on the K-36 locomotives. Firing while the engine is working hard is done with a large "heel" pattern, generally with as little coal on the flue sheet as possible, and gradually sloping the fire bed towards the door sheet to the height or higher than the firedoors. This results in the draft being forced through the fire bed in the thinner areas towards the flue sheet, which usually is hindered by the lack of draft between the grates and the arch brick. New firemen sometimes have a hard time learning this because there are fewer training hours available on the K-28 class locomotives compared to the railroad's usual K-36 workhorses which have a larger firebox and are more forgiving of poor technique.

Roster

D&RGW Number	Builder's Number	Disposition	WP&Y number
470	64981	WP&Y, then scrapped	250
471	64982	WP&Y, then scrapped	251
472	64983	WP&Y, then scrapped	252
473	64984	D&SNG, operational
474	64985	WP&Y, then scrapped	253
475	64986	WP&Y, then scrapped	254
476	64987	D&SNG, museum, awaiting major repair
477	64988	WP&Y, then scrapped	255
478	64989	D&SNG, Currently undergoing rebuild inside Durango roundhouse
479	64990	WP&Y, then scrapped	256