Unlike the transmission of a car, there was no overall torque-multiplication effect from selecting a lower gear. The 4:1 mechanical advantage afforded to the single engine driving in first gear was cancelled out by the fact that there was only one engine operating, so the maximum output torque from the transmission was the same as was available in top gear with all four engines operating. The same argument applies to second and third gears. The transmission of this locomotive, therefore, unlike almost all other locomotive transmissions, did "not" provide any means of matching the torque characteristics of the engine(s) to the requirements of the locomotive; it did not provide for an increased torque output at low speeds for starting and hill climbing. It served only to match the output "speed" of the engine(s) to the requirements of the locomotive.