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[quote user="dinwitty"] well then all the Diesel power ratings we see is deceptive.   It almost makes me think this is done on purpose to make the Diesel "look good"  vs the steam engine.Just about every steam description I have seen says "Tractive Effort" and any diesel description says "Horsepower". Duh. Really, somebody somewhere decided this is going to be -THE- way to describe Diesel power. Fooey. Somebody fix this.[/quote] There is no conspiracy to make diesels seem better than steam.  But it is hard to state one common rating or measure of performance that is the most meaningful.  Generally, the early diesels had considerably less horsepower than the modern steamers that they replaced.  But diesels had the ability to M.U., so the horsepower disparity could be compensated for.  And since M.U. operation adds more drivers, the tractive effort of diesels could rival or exceed that of a steam locomotive of equivalent horsepower.  <o:p></o:p> But the greatest fundamental advantage of diesel over steam is the fact that a diesel can develop full horsepower when starting from zero speed, and deliver that horsepower when accelerating from a stop, as well as when lugging at near stall speed.  Whereas a steamer cannot develop its full horsepower until it reaches its maximum speed.   <o:p></o:p> Fundamentally, a diesel-electric locomotive has a transmission, while a steamer does not.  Although one might make the case that the variable cutoff of a steamer amounts to a form of transmission.
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