(C53 43 pulling the Tsubame train, photographed between Okubo and Akashi on December 9, 1934. Notice peculiarly similar approach to streamlining, even though the first A4, LNER 2509 "Silver Link" didn't enter service until 7th September 1935. - Katsusaburo NISHIO / 西尾克三郎 - Scanned from p.34 of "Railway Pictorial" No.426, from Wikipedia)
They say the first step is always the hardest. Class C53 may be considered that first step on Japan's way to perfecting its passenger rail transportation. Disliked by the crews and flawed by design, expensive and short-lived, Japan's only non-experimental three-cylinder locomotive was Hideo Shima's debut project. It is believed that the streamlining treatment of one C53 unit provided crucial data that would later be collated into the creation of the Shinkansen in 1964.
Shigosan ("C53" in Japanese)
In February 1926, amidst growing demand for faster passenger trains with more room and better safety standards it was concluded the C51 locomotive has come to its theoretical limits of performance and it was time to introduce a completely new technology, Ministry of Railways decided to import six ALCo (American Locomotive Company)-built locomotives - classified as C52 - to sample a three-cylinder Gresley conjugated valve gear that was under development in Europe and the United States at the time. The last Japanese steam locomotives to be imported, these were subjected to various test and after showing an increase in performance served as an example for the future C53 design.
(Builder's photo of Japanese Government Railways C52 three-cylinder Pacific locomotive - American Locomotive Company ALCO Historic Photos - Steam Locomotive Development in Japan from Wikipedia.)
A total of 97 Class C53 locomotives were built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company and Kisha Seizo between 1928 and 1929 to haul Tōkaidō Main Line express services, such as the Tsubame and the Fuji, which connected Tokyo and Osaka, the country’s two largest cities.
There were a number of issues with the Gresley gear. Because of its complexity routine maintenance took a lot more time and effort, but the main difficulty was that sustained high speed running could sometimes cause parts wear rapid enough for the system to destroy itself. LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard suffered that same malfunction during its world speed record run and was forced to limp back to its depot for repairs afterwards. It should also be noted that Japanese engineers did not yet possess an intimate understanding of the technology and the excessive emphasis on C53's weight reduction caused problems of its own such as frequent cracks due to insufficient rigidity of components.
(C53 10 - by user 鉄道情報社 - 機関車形式写真帖 from Wikipedia.)
Although the issue could be contained in a peacetime environment - indeed, many crews noted that when properly maintained and tuned, driving a C53 was more comfortable than the subsequent C59 and C62 types because of its low vibration due to the three cylinders operating at equal intervals, a wide and comfortable cab, a boiler with good steam flow, and strong traction. Unfortunately, this class proved to be poorly suited to the rigors of heavy running and low maintenance levels of World War II.
Subsequently introduced precise alignment of the valve gear and new standards for manufacture and lubrication effectively solved the problems, but it was too late for C53s.
(C53 96 passing by Nagoya Station - you will visit the station during the events of Japanese Trails. - Unknown author, duplicated by user kyu3 (124201) from Komaki, Aichi prefecture, Japan ゲートタワーの工事現場沿いの壁（？）に、昔の名古屋駅の写真 - 3：昭和12年の名古屋駅)
Although several locomotives were modified through the course of their service to address cinder accumulation and change exhaust pattern, all locomotives of the class were withdrawn by 1950 with the ongoing Tokaido line electrification and introduction of the C59 type.
Today, only one Class C53 locomotive has been preserved - C53 45 - and can be visited at the Kyoto Railway Museum.
(C53 45 preserved at Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum in December 2011 - by user LERK from Wikipedia.)
The Ministry
Unfortunately C53 43 - the only streamlined locomotive of the class - could not be preserved, we only have pictures left. These pictures give us plenty reasons for its popularity with train modelists though.
(Plarail JNR C5341 side by side with a rotary snowplow as seen in a Yahoo flea market listing)
In November 1934, C53 43 assigned to Umekoji was streamlined on a trial basis in a 20-day rush job at Takatori Works, following the worldwide streamlined locomotive boom. The front part of the smokehouse was cut at an angle, the driver's cab was replaced with an enclosed one, the entire car body and the upper part of the coal car were covered with streamlined steel plates, and the gap between the locomotive body and the coal car was covered with a hood. The exposed steam whistle was also fitted with a streamlined box. The paint color was prawn-brown.
Although the trend advocated a lot of drag reduction effects, at the operating speeds of less than 100 km/h (62 mph) the effect of drag on a running train was negligible. Rather, the goal was to improve the air flow around the train, prevent smoke from engulfing the passenger cars and reduce wind pressure on oncoming trains and passengers waiting on station platforms.
(C53 43 undergoing streamlining treatment - added by user Leeferr to the Locomotive Wiki)
After its completion, C53 43 made an official test run on November 24 at Takatori Works, and from December 1 of the same year until the timetable revision on July 1, 1937, when the C53s at Umekoji were withdrawn from express operation, it pulled the Tsubame train between Kobe and Nagoya (also pulling the outbound train between Akashi Yard and Kobe) and the Fuji train between Nagoya and Osaka. It also pulled express trains between Kyoto and Kobe.
In June 1935, performance tests were conducted between Hara and Suzukawa (present-day Yoshiwara) on the Tokaido Main Line using C53 43 and non-streamlined C53 55 at around 100 km/h (62 mph) with the performance test car connected. The results showed that drag coefficient for C53 43 was 87% of the conventional locomotive, so the company decided to streamline all C53s with 10 cars to be converted in 1935. The rear of the Tsubame coaches was also to be converted to a streamlined design to reduce aerodynamic drag further by 30%, These plans were never acted upon, with shortcomings like streamlined driver cabin that accumulated heat rather easily, increased maintenance and inspection times and a 3000 yen price of a single locomotive conversion cited.
(Side view of the C53 43 - Katsusaburo NISHIO / 西尾克三郎 - Scanned from p.34 of "Railway Pictorial" No.426, from Wikipedia)
Hideo Shima will use knowledge he and his colleagues accumulated during the trials of C53 class and C53 43 while designing the C55 class locomotives, of which 20 were built streamlined.
(JGR C5520 side view - added by user Leeferr to the Locomotive Wiki)
Train Valley 2’s in-game counterpart is called The Ministry because Hideo Shima helped design Class C53 while employed by Ministry of Railways (Japanese Government Railways), and also to denote Japanese authorities' involvement and interest in the country's transportation system as well as the joint effort of many separate organizations they've arranged to produce C53s.
We have translated the wide streamline casing shape that covers every mechanism and leaves only boiler's reinforcement beams, a front hatch and a steam exhaust pipe to remind us this steamship looking vehicle is indeed a locomotive unto the in-game model and applied Train Valley 2's signature Tier 1 green livery.
We did our best preserving the wheel base configuration but we had to omit the tender. And before you ask - we made the front lights red because many train models tend to have these. We haven't found a single source that says C5343 did not have red lights :)
From steam engine to distributed-power multiple-unit control system
Among the key people credited with the construction of the first Shinkansen are Hideo Shima, the Chief Engineer, and Shinji Sogō, the first President of Japanese National Railways (JNR) who managed to persuade politicians to back the plan. Other significant people responsible for its technical development were Tadanao Miki, Tadashi Matsudaira, and Hajime Kawanabe based at the Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), part of JNR. They were responsible for much of the technical development of the first line, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen.
(JR East Shinkansen Lineup on a Public opening Event (the 30th Anniversary of the Jōetsu Shinkansen) at Niigata Shinkansen Rolling Stock Center. From the left - E5 Series, 200 Series, E4 Series, E2 Series, E3 Series, E926 Type (East i), and E1 Series - added by user Rsa - Own work to Wikipedia)
As Hideo Shima said himself
I started designing steam locomotives, but I always felt the limits of steam. On one hand, I wanted to build a steam locomotive with the greatest traction capacity to gain a reputation, but on the other hand, I repeatedly thought about what direction to take to pass the limits of steam, taking the features and condition of Japan into consideration. ...I was also thinking seriously how to meet JNR's transport needs. At that time, air and car traffic were showing remarkable growth. I thought that building a line that would soon fall behind the advancing transport world would be regrettable for the future of JNR and in meeting social expectations. I decided to build a railway that would be useful and rational for a long time into the future.
Mr Shima organised the replacement of locomotive-hauled middle-distance trains on the Tokaido Line with electric railcar trains. This new EMU was nicknamed "Shonan Densha" and showed remarkable progress, with greatly improved running speed and excellent riding comfort surpassing the passenger cars hauled by locomotives. The speed increase made a day trip between Tokyo and Osaka possible. The super-express trains became able to make return trips and the economic advantages of the distributed-power system was clear. Soon, JNR had changed into one of the most prominent EMU-oriented railways in the world.
Mr Shima went on to overseeing the building of the first Shinkansen line in 1955. In addition to its innovative propulsion system, the Shinkansen also introduced features like air suspension and air-conditioning. Shima's team designed the sleek cone-shaped front from which the bullet train got its name. The cost of the first Shinkansen line also cost Shima his job. The building of the first line, which needed 3,000 bridges and 67 tunnels to allow a clear and largely straight path, led to such huge cost overruns that, even though the project was financed by the government and had additional funding from the World Bank that Mr Shima has secured himself, he resigned in 1963 in the Japanese tradition of taking responsibility, along with the JNR president Shinji Sogō, who had backed Shima's ideas, even though the line later proved to be popular and well-used. They both did not attend the opening ceremony.
Further reading:
- familiarize yourself with the JNR C52's history
- do the same about the C53
- there's also a fine article about the Gresley-Holcroft gear
- take a look at schematics comparing streamlined C53 and a baseline C53 locomotive
- read more on JGR/JNR Steam Locomotive Evolution from 1872 to 1948
- go through the rest of the translated portion of Birth of The Shinkansen— A Memoir by Hideo Shima
- find out more about JNR's transition from steam power to EMUs
- and here is an article about the Shinkansen of course
Don't forget to wishlist Japanese Trails today, so you are the first to know when it's out :)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3643660/Train_Valley_2__Japanese_Trails/
See you in a bit, friends!