KD7 Class 2-8-0s
These locomotives were built in the USA and supplied to China by UNRRA as part of the post war rehabilitation effort in 1946. China received 160 locos while others of the same design went to Belgium as SNCB/NMBS class 29. The KD7 was a thoroughly modern engine and was highly regarded by the Chinese. Many features of the design were adopted as standard for new construction and the improvement of existing locomotives.
KD7 534 on display at Beijing Railway Museum. At least four of the class are thought to be preserved.
The Chinese engines went into main line freight service with Shanghai and Guangzhou bureaus and remained in those areas all of their working lives. Over the next few decades the arrival of larger locomotives, such as the FD class 2-10-2s, saw the KD7s demoted to more menial duties. By the late 1970s, when enthusiasts started reporting sightings, they handled most of the trip and shunting work in the Shanghai and Guangzhou areas. Over the next decade, most of the class were replaced by newly built JS 2-8-2s and withdrawn from service. The final reported sighting of a working engine was in late 1988. Surprisingly for such a useful class, there have been no reports of any going into industrial service.
At least four KD7 are thought to have been preserved. KD7 534 is at Beijing Railway Museum, KD7 587 and 641 at Shanghai's History and Railway Museums respectively and KD7 513 at the Datong Locomotive Works Museum. A fifth loco, KD7 511, was reported to be under restoration in Hangzhou in 2002.
