Answer:
Maikang YES.
I’m going to answer your question as if you were asking it during the late 1940’s thru 1050’s when these behemoths of the railroad ruled the rails:

The diesels that were in service during the period of the big steam locomotives were considerably lower horsepower than the hi-tech types with VFD controlled pulse drive we have today.
Lets look at some so you can see:
I’ll reference what were referred to as “Covered Wagons” which were the F & E series from EMD.
skin analyzer

Maikang No it isn’t.UP’s Big Boy was rated at about 6.300 horsepower with a maximum tractive effort of 135,000 pounds.A modern EMD SD 70 or a GE C45AC are between 4000 to 4400 horsepower but produce tractive effort of around 137,000 or more.The Big Boy beats them in horses but not in tractive effort.And tractive effort is how a locomotives efficiency is measured.
Edit I guess you needed to state if you were talking about a modern diesel locomotive.Some of us say yes and some say no.Some state 1950’s era engines and some site horsepower ratings.Horsepower is not how engines are judged.It doesn’t matter how much horsepower is being output.It’s how much pulling force can be transferred to the rail.In that respect a modern locomotive wins the contest.If you were talking 50’s era locomotives then yes that might have been true.Still not sure though as those old GP 9’s pulled like a mule even though they didn’t have much horsepower or tractive effort specs.skin analyzer

Maikang The simple answer is that the Big Boy does not produce nearly the starting tractive effort or continuous tractive effort of today’s diesels. Today’s diesels provide around 180-190 thousand pounds of starting tractive effort and over 160 thousand pounds of continuous tractive effort. This dwarfs even the might N&W Y6b class that was rated at 155 thousand pounds of starting tractive effort. The Y6a and Y6b were clearly the most powerful freight locomotives. Diesels simply pull harder and that is what working power is all about.skin analyzer

Maikang Yes, basically that was close to an accurate statement, but that was then, not today. The question was not worded very well.

When they were built, they were very well designed, along with the Niagara, which was a 6000HP 4-8-4. Heck, I’ve read about a 4-8-4 that was modified to produce 4000 draw bar HP, and it is a narrow-guage engine.

The GP40 was introduced in 1967, and it only produces 2100 drawbar HP at 60mph. Locomotives were designed for a specific type of service, that definitely applies to the Big Boy.skin analyzer

Maikang That’s not true at all, the UP big boy had no more than 6,000 Horse power. Diesel locomotives now don’t even have the same amount as they do. A UP big boy was powerful, but not that powerful.skin analyzer

Maikang Get Queen’s A Day at the Races — it has “Take My Breath Away” on it ! And Queen’s A Night at the Opera — it has “The Prophet’s Song” I don’t have a favorite song from Queen 1 == But Sheer Heart Attack is another great Queen album — It has Brighton Rock ! (First show I ever saw – 1983) Thank YOU for putting me on a Queen nostalgia trip — !skin analyzer

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