#1166
Rio Grande class K-27
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Baldwin Locomotive Works· from 1903· class of 15 American narrow gauge 2-8-2 locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Ex-D&RGW 464 on the Huckleberry Railroad, Flint, Michigan: Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The Denver and Rio Grande Western K-27 is a class of fifteen 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotives built for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1903. Known by their nickname "Mudhens," they were the first and the most numerous of the four K classes of Rio Grande narrow gauge engines to be built. Two of the original fleet of fifteen survived into preservation and operate on heritage railways in the United States.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 123 years ago, in 1903.
- Weighs about as much as 10 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 10.3 m long: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1903
- retired
- 1962
- status
- in service
- number built
- 15
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Baldwin Locomotive Works
- operators
- Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, Rio Grande Southern Railroad, Knott's Berry Farm, Huckleberry Railroad, National Railroad of Mexico
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 914 mm 3 ft narrow gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 2-8-2
- length
- 10.3 m
- weight
- 62 t
- nicknames
- Mudhen
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5203028, Wikipedia: Rio Grande class K-27 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.