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In the Showa Era, after the introduction of the type C51 locomotives, the type C53 was introduced as there was a need for more powerful locomotives with higher speeds, steel bodies, and longer lengths.
From 1927 to 1931, 97 of them were manufactured at Kisha-Seizo and Kawasaki, and were used for the Tokaido Main Line and Sanyo Main Line Limited Express.
It was the only Gresley valve type three-cylinder Japan National Railways (JNR) locomotive (The cylinder is the part that converts steam pressure to power the steam locomotive by reciprocating the piston inside).
Three-cylinder locomotives were a worldwide trend at the time, though they had many advantages over two-cylinder ones, they also had disadvantages of requiring many parts and the difficulty of adjusting the valve gear that interlocked the cylinders.
After Japan suffered defeat in the Pacific War, the entire railroad was worn out and maintenance was inadequate, so all of the C53s were scrapped in 1950.
Today, 1 of this type is preserved statically (refers to locomotives that are preserved in a way that does not allow them to be immediately operated, and/or that are simply on display) at the Kyoto Railway Museum.
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