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Following the C54 as a modernized and improved form of the type C51, 62 type C55 locomotives were manufactured at Kisha-Seizo, Kawasaki, Hitachi and Mitsubishi from 1935 to 1937.
Additionally, 8 were manufactured for the Railway of the Governor-General of Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period and used from 1935 to 1938. After the Pacific War renamed Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) CT250 class.
From this locomotive, the sand box (a box that holds sand between the wheels and rails to increase friction and prevent spinning when traction is lost, such as when going uphill or when there are fallen leaves on the tracks) and steam dome are integrated into one piece, the runboard (planks provided for inspection workers to walk on the roofs of steam locomotive boilers sides, trains, etc) is straightened and the locomotive has a more modern appearance.
Although the driving wheels were spoke shaped, they were reinforced like flippers to increase strength.
And 21 locomotives of a second form of this type (C55 20 through C55 40) were designed with a streamlined design, which was popular at the time.
In reality, however, the effect was only cosmetic and made it inconvenient for inspections, so all of them were converted to the standard type in 1950.
They were used until 1975. There are now a total of 4 of them 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 railroad museum in Kyoto, that were used in Hokkaido and Kyushu up until the end.
In Taiwan, 2 of them are also preserved.
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