Measure power and measure worker productivity. The first railway engineers between classical economics and labor sciences

The aim of this study is to analyze the implementation of labor productivity in the first railway engineers. It is hypothesized that, in the initial stage, there may have been a dissociation between the science that considered the living and working conditions of the human factor and, on the other hand, the practices of the railway companies. The sources come from the systematic review of the scientific texts of the time that studied the power of humans, animals and machines, in the context of the various currents of engineering and economic thought in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It also draws on the publications that dealt with the organization of work in the railway sector and, specifically, the performance of engineers in continental European countries, England and the United States of America. The main results show that the introduction of productivity criteria for engine drivers resulted in colossal savings for the railroad companies. In return, the workers received bonuses with which, according to the corporate narrative, they enjoyed a good life. However, the reality was different. Because of the intensified workload, many enginemen quit, fell ill or died prematurely.