The D&RGW K-28 class consisted of ten narrow-gauge 2-8-2 locomotives built by the American Locomotive Company in 1923.
They were numbered 470 through 479 and became known among crews as the “Sport Models.”
The class combined roughly 28,000 pounds of tractive effort with relatively refined suspension and valve-motion details for narrow-gauge service.
K-28s handled important passenger trains as well as freight, giving them a more speed-oriented role than many earlier narrow-gauge locomotives.
The class became strongly associated with routes such as the San Juan passenger service and the Silverton branch.
During World War II, seven K-28s were transferred away from the D&RGW for use in Alaska-related wartime transportation.
Those seven locomotives were later scrapped, leaving Nos. 473, 476, and 478 as the complete surviving class.
All three survivors remained tied to the Silverton branch and later Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
Modern preservation has included major rebuilding and conversion from coal to oil firing.
For TransitSatellite, the K-28 class page should separate the 1923 design from the present-day appearance of individual survivors. A class model can define proportions, but individual pages must carry exact modern modifications.