MILITARY AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500080012-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 29, 1999
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: June 1, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2001/11/20 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500080012-7
U.S. Official's only
SECRET
COUNTRY China/USSR
SECURITY INFGRMAIION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENC!- AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SUBJECT Military and Bconostic Cond&.tions
25X1A
DATE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
*.t .?ia: u0nu11
7.1I 000O.uT 77.1.1.. .+ . ......
07 T.. x?1710 07.711. ..T.,. T.1 ~1?.I?I 07 711.1 11? 0107110.1 111
??0 11.. 0. 1.a u.1. 70Gt. ? ?.1.010. ITS T.?.Ia11IIo. 0. .frt.
?7, O. 0. 'TI 70.1,511 T. 7.I.ICl1.1 a7 ?? w?y....Il10 .in0? II
.. ,.. .I1 p ~.....,... a en?.1
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
DATE DISTR. June 53
NO. OF PAGES 6
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT NO.
Q. What industrial plants were observed along the rail route? Where were these
plants located? Did these plants appear to be new or old?
Q. What new building construction wan noted?l Were these warehouse or industrial
plant structures?
A Near the Antung area I didn't see lnanT. I don`t say there weTfar't any there
but I didn't see them. After we had pasted Balkal Lake, somewhere within
five or six hours - we bad no watches or leaps - on the right-hand side of
the railroad there had been huge s.eamahovels at work and an embankment of
earth had been put up. Two things were god=g on there. They were building
noting inside that embanken'. and outside, the river was belag dredged as
if it were being prepared for navigation. It was such a huge place of work
that I was very much impressed. I didn't keep track of locations. Later on
we oasis to three big developments -which were at the junction of the Siberian
railroad and the rive-, after we had cone across another long Stretch of flat-
lead. The first was at the town of New Siberia and it extended for miles on
both sides of the river. I an not sure about directions. We cam down along
U.S. Off Iclale Only
SECRET
;FOUR!Tf I FORMA -, 1014
015Tp%MUT1Qh # STATt -', I t~-
Thts report is for the use within the USA of the Intelligence components of the, Departments or
mitted overseas without the ronrurrepcc of the
t
rans
not to he
Agencies Indicated above. It is originating office through the Assistant Director of l Fhe Othee of CnlL:ctlon and Di emination, CIA.
Approved For Release 2001/11/20 : CL4 RDP80-00809A000500080012-7
 Approved For Release 2001/11/20 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500080012-7
US OF lClA CX LI
SECRET
SSCURTr7 IFYORW.TIOW
one side of the river and there were these trorar~s9 ,.,jhctt-es. Go many t-alas
were nwriag by in both directions that I cm-dne t yet sl:. Of thM. There were
rows sad rocs of new apsrtaewb hoes for the vorkera. Base of the factories
were of all shapes. Sear seemed to be refiaariea and bad big pipes that extended
for several city blocks. I caneat remmbrr the meet locations of these plants.
None of then was old : Some ash hav1e beam three or four years old but the impressive
thing about the whole scene was theilewnees of it - Bons of theft were warehouses.
Alosig the line I cee; what appeared to be t_ eaeendocn grain elevators, very tall owes;
-r would say 10 stories high.
a.
A.
What was the speed of the train on? jrlrlei yea travel- cdY
The trains in China were far superipr to the one we rode in Russia; and ran at a
speed of around 35 miles an hoar. However, since I didn't have a watch to time it,
I can't be positive of this. We changed trains at Mnesdrn and at Manchouli. The
Russian train was older and-elo,er and I Judge it's speed was betws'sa 20 ash 25 milem
an hour. The Biberi.:& railroad ssis be a constant p:-nblen to tken. The road bed
seeped to be is parr condition and is vas the s_tantioa all the way through to
the Ural Mountains. We were told that this railroad was doable-trucked all the way
but part of the ti- we were switched off ton branch lime that was only single-
track. I don't know whether this was because they didn't want us to set oonething
that was going on along the will ro'Lte or whether they were repairing the road.
Whenever we vent downhill the engi. or had the brake on all the way. There were
great groups of people out working on the roadbeds all throughout Siberia. They
were working at great pace and in some places, in order to keep the, trains nor?tng,
they would have to go over it twice, first temporarily then a second time to pat
down the, ballast, etc. I think the long winter and heavy frost is a constant
problem in keeping the railroads open. There was the feeling in nV mind thrt the
engineer was un asy about the road 'bed all the way across Siberia. Apparently,
keeping the railroads is shape is a matter of great urgency- and iapprtanee to
the gnvu-- e.., else there would sot have been so mazy people all alone the route
working on the roadbeds. I don't know vhvtker it was draft labor or hire but in
any came living accoaodations that were sea--perna,nent were provided for them
right alongside the tracks. These were large box-cars renverted into homes. Steps
had- been installed and there were &atanaaa up for radios and ^nme of them had
swings up for the children undeznoa-t the cars.
We travelled on coal-burning trains and I saw- nothing but coal-burning trains until
niter we passed the Ural Mountains. Fran there or late Moscow there were sections
where the trains were ele- :rifled and moved faster. There were r little railroad
yards that had been electrified and they had elec-cri: switch locoaetive*. 'We ^av
Russian soldiers doing ccaatroction work all along-this portion of the railroad.
All of the workers wore unifnras except the lowest grade laborers,. Women were
working right along with the men. They were doing most of the section work. I
only aav one woman on the snitch engine, thourr,h, and I don't knav whether or not
she was an engineen,,.e. Slerctrificatioir is still liotte3,although from the amount
of work going an they will have the satire line freer the Urel Mountains west
electrified. They were building *'.eel towers at intervals, and-ve saw places where
0oldienrs were sacsmped and they vovle be moving around like regular engineers
r^haildine and repairing in soma plans but prissily digging holes for the e'_nctric
,u seer ? Bar weer aecb JJL~
in the railroad work because-I used to work on
railroads 25 or 30 years age. I
TM CPPICIALS ONLY
SECRET
68CtIE f ZNF0RMA ION
Approved For Release 2001/11/20 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500080012-7
25X1 A
 Approved For Release 2001/11/20 : Cl -RDP8O-OO8O9AOOO5OOO8OO12-7
US OF?T IALS ONLY
SECRET
SEL' i TI~'FOR~1A1'J ON
.3..
Q. How many i mire were seen per day moving in the opposite dire:-.ion? What were
they carry-AS?
A. On tin UNIX road I would say that. there were anywhnru from 30 to 60 trains a
dye pricing us, I was msa impressed vita the- amount of materiel and sill the
tretght-asd.thS military and-us an the now*. Theme apperred*to be fully equipped
as if they were OperatilrZ on a war-tin basis. They were tr.=porting trucks and
big .guar, bat net how u= I -can't say. There were always visible guards with
guns ride the materiel cads. There was ',a tremendous amoult of heavy industry
asachissry, and raw iron. and great amounto of sheet mortal and girders. They were
also wring Surat gasnt-ittea of sgricu1-t al implements, including tractors. In
Siberia I saw very- few tractors and not mach improved agriculture. Once we crossed
the Ural, Mountains the cultivation program increased. After we pas.sd the Ural
Mountains. we sawn. whole cars full of plows,1 barrow. and other nachinsry. There was
also a lot of cheap law-grade coal and bl.iwers, probably for iadustrlal furnaces.
A:ad -the a was- a great amount of lumber being tarried. Incidentally, I noticed
that throughout Eiberi.a and up until we crossed the Mountains there was more birch
than sabr other kind of tree although there were some =ware and pines. Than after
we crossed the Mountains there were miles snd miles of planted evergreen and cedars,
two rove of them. The row nearest the tracks hat the tops trimmed off so that it
gave me the impression of a stop-like formation.
Q. -What was the approximate size of the tank cars observed en route? How many tank
care were observed and what was the most common size?
A. I was masted at the size of the tank cars.! I would say they were almost twice as
big as ours. They were all that size. The railroad track* ',am wider than ours.
I couldn't begin to estimtc the number that we saw.
>. Q. What evidence did you note of the construction of communications facilities?
A. The first thing we noted was, at regular intervals there were tremendous zsts with
wires.. Whether they were -amming or relay stations I don't know. Just after we
had crossed the Ural Mountains there was a seven-story tower. No days before we
reached Moscow there were groat wooden tvzers 'with nothing else around them but
steps leading to the top. I was amazed at, the variety of supports for high tension
wires., I don't see how they kept track o, them. Some were ', made of old posts and
sosre of-iree girders- There were.high power tension virus everywhere west of
the--Ural Mountains. As we approached Moscow I noticed that in small. clusters here
and there -were tale- isi cn +n~en~ss . There would be a group' of them near a factory,
for instance. All in all . saw six or seven different types of these antennas.
I hoard seas couw,,.,,ion in the dining car that there was a struggle go: ng on in
East Gsr=evr fur control of the television air and that the Russians were now
expmrlnsating with tele?rieion to they could take over.
?. Q. Did you note any evidence of rolling stock shortages?
E. There didn't oean to be any great aherrage because we saw a,great niter of loco-
natives and oars that didn't appear to be in bad shape.. They were off on a
aiding. There were soam old smseum piece,. for switch engines and I was impressed
Gli:a the way they were able to keep those old l.ocomotivee going. SAere were repair
yards aloes the trade's where they almost rebuilt cars right out in the open air. I
US OFFICIALS ONLY
hECRET
SECURITY IftFORM9TION
Approved For Release 2001/11/20 : CIA-RDP8O-00809AO00500080012-7
 Approved For Release 2001/11/20 : CIAIRDP80-00809A000500080012-7
US OFFICIALS ONLY
SCRg7.'
8$CtiB1TY INFORMATION
-k_
saw some that had bees in wrecks and they practically reb-tnilt thee eatirely.l Among
the- military ognipmemt being taalrsporte4 there were some objects like railroad cars
but fast the floor of the oar with -the axles sticking ant There vere 15 of, these
on this *hip=-.' and in another- open Fzig3xt ear were the wheals. Although I can't
give aagr Ietinite figures because I saw sosxch is such a short time, nV impression
is that they are not suffering any shortage of rolling stock.
$.
Q.
Did you have any delays or tie-itps? If so, for what reason,?
A.
We were on what they considered a fast run. It took us soon days but they said
it u.acd to take 10 or 12 days across Russia. We stopped every three or four' hours
for about 20 minutrs all the way. Before we reached the Ural Mountains we seer-.d
to be proceeding very cautiously and so were the freight trains: Once past the
Mountains the freight trains made no atop: that?I saw. &or stops were at stations
and I dos 't know why they were m"e.
9. Q. What types of' freight cars were 3.a use and -here? Two-axle or four ax's? Capacity?
A. They were very maeh like ours sad the construction appeared to be like ours.l~ lay
imprassion was that all. the freight cars had four axlra, two front, two rear. I
saw some that had carriers underneath. Most of them looped like ours but some had
two bumpers cm the roar end.
10. Q. Did you note any loading p:?actlces?
A. After passing the Ural Mountains I couldn't help but feel impressed by the amount
of movable cranes. In the big industrial centers there were many of them, but
I don't remember any right down at the railroad tracks. There were the loading
platforms that looked like- ours- and loading onto the cars by men with small trucks
and hr.ad carts. It reminded me of home.
11. Q. Is- the Harbin-Suifenho railroad _ine single, double cr triple tracked?
A. I think it was all double ;rucked At one n?age we were shunted aft to a single
track line on a very wide road-bed, probably bc:?7ause they didn't want. as to see
that particular section cef the mui.n line.
12. Q. Lid you note any signs of civil defense activity?
A. I saw nothing that looked like it tc me. Ho signs for Li=--raid shelters.
13. Q. Did you ce-_ any signs of forced labor e:;t1'uityt
A. There 'ma no way of knowing whether the labor was forced or not. I didn't ace
any guards standing around with guns or any! indication that the workers were
prisoners. Most of them wore ua09A0005000800
UE OFFICIALS 02YI,Y
SECRET
SECURITY INFORK&TION
Vodla (aaa11 bottle) - 16 rubles
Port Wine - 20 rubles
Leaoa -(k=all & withered) - 4 rubles
Shoes (On ration) - Wen's -120 to 400 rubles
Wors`s-150 to 300 rubles
Children?. -30-40-3o-loo ruble)
Dish of ice cream - 1 ruble
Qla" of fruit juice - 80 kopeks
One fish (flounder) about 1-1/2 lbs. - 9 rubles
Large sugar cookie - 1 ruble
Small ^
agar cookie- '85 kopeks
Bottle of'beer- 5 rubles
Rattle oflblack ale- 3 rubles
Soda water - 3 rubles
Egg (1) - 1 to 1-1/4 rubles
Bottle of milk - 2 rubles
Choose, 1/4 lb. slab - 8 to l0 rubles
Apple (1) - 5 rubles
Pocket Knife - 8 to 15 rubles
Magazines- 2 to 4 rubles (all issued by Central aovornment)
Qerotan-Russian Dictionary - 8 rubles
Suitcases- 12-15-18 rubles (poor quality)
Suit of clothes . 120 rubles and up
18. Q. Do you know any prices
A. My railroad ticket from Menchouli to Moscow, first class) was 11$50 rubles. Second
:lass is 1150. Regular food, such as neat and potatoes,lwas cheap. We could get
that for from 5 to 7 rubles.
Bread and butter - 80 kopeks
Cup of coffee - 85 kopeks
Cup of cocoa - 75 kopeks
Dish of rice - Slightly more than 1 ruble
Three eggs, fried or boiled - 3 rubles, 75 kopeks
Sirloin steak - 5 rubles, 75 kopeks
Glass of apricot jaice, imported - 4 rubles
8sn11 jelly roll - 2-1/2 rubles
Sssl1 piece of cheese - 4 rubles
I have no inform-tlon on postal or freight rnec;.
19. Q. Do you know of any instances of rationing? If so, what items and to what extent?
A. I vaow' the shoes were rat: oned from seeing than on sale In the stations. I also
noti.:. that different classeo of people wore different its of shoes. There
didn't seen to be much choice in otyle, but I noticed tha,; the lady maaagoz, of
our car wore shoes that were of better quality than th. waitress in the dining
room, and the man manager wore shoes of better quality than the porters but, not
eo good as most of the passengers. The lady massr said that a person got what
be was eirtitled to and by that I presume she meant according to his class.
20. Q. B,'?ve you any information about the availability of communilcation^ facilities to
the gearral public?
A.? I have practically no inform+-tion about this except that I saw radio masts all over
the country from the Ural Mountains cn in, and most of the! houses seamed to have
electricity. I did not see telephone wires or poles. - end -
US OFFICIALS ONLY/SECRET/SECURITY INFORRIlkfloN
Approved For Release 2001/11/20 : CIA-RDP80-00~09A0005000800 2-7