A Little Background
In 1903, the Denver & Rio Grande took delivery of fifteen class 125 2-8-2 narrow gauge locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Eventually re-classified as K-27s and nicknamed ‘Mudhens’ by their operating crews, the new locomotives boasted a tractive effort of over 27,000 lbs. and ushered in a new era of narrow gauge pulling power for the ever expanding railroad. All fifteen K-27s (numbers 450 to 464) were originally equipped with Vauclain compound cylinders but due to high maintenance costs, were soon rebuilt with single expansion cylinders and slide valves. Later, eleven of these engines were upgraded again, this time with modern piston valve cylinders. Today, there are still two surviving and operating K-27s. Blackstone Models is pleased to introduce the K-27 in the modern piston valve configuration. Faithfully reproduced in HOn3 scale, the Blackstone K-27 features die cast construction accented with numerous detail parts. The K-27 is optionally available with state-of-the-art electronics including a SoundTraxx™ Tsunami™ Digital Sound Decoder. The Tsunami-equipped Blackstone K-27 sounds as good as it looks and will operate on both DC and DCC controlled layouts. All at a price that’s less than a third of today’s brass imports!