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The successor to the C51 was split into two types, one for main trunk lines and the other for sub-trunk lines (not the main ones, but more important than regional lines). The C53 was introduced for main trunk lines and the C54 for sub-trunk lines.
In 1931, 17 C54 locomotives were manufactured at Kisha-Seizo and Kawasaki.
Though it’s a modernized version of the C51, compared to the C55 and C57 that appeared later, it was right in the middle of the developmental process, and had an appearance of a mixture of the old and the modern.
The lightweight body of this locomotive became in fact a disadvantage, resulting in frequent idling (when a wheel makes one revolution but does not go the distance of one revolution).
Additionally, during the Pacific War, because there were many failures due to defective components, the entire fleet was scheduled to be scrapped after the war.
However, not much time had passed since they were produced, so half of them, mostly the defective ones, were scrapped, and the rest were renewed and repaired and used until 1962.
It was a plain locomotive and was quickly scrapped, so there are no preserved units today.
Furthermore, Japan National Railways (JNR) locomotives with the number 54 are said to have the jinx of not succeeding. Together with the ED54 electric and the DD54 diesel locomotives, it had a short life span.
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