COMMENT ON TIES, RAILS, FUEL, PERSONNEL, AND OPERATING AND WORKING CONDITIONS ON USSR RAILROADS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500420153-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 26, 1999
• Sequence Number: 153
• Publication Date: March 5, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2001/09/11 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500420153-3
U.S. Officials Only
SECREP
INFORMATION REPORT
SUBJECT Comment, on Ties, Rails, Fuel; Personnel, and Operating
and Working Conditions on USSR Railroads
PLACE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
DATE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
t.i1 coca. D.. cc...,.s re used only in case of a shortage of rails.
6. Shortly before World War the -type iccomotive (1-6-0), with a steam
"over-heater" (literal -.ran ration of a device to "dry out" the steam in order
to increase efficiency); on s freight train made up of 115 cars of 16 tons each,
would use one and one-half tons of average coal for a 75 to 80 km run. This
would be a train of 115 thousand pud (one pud is equal to 16 kg). The "steam
over-heater" which increased the efficiency for the locomotive, directly
affected the consumption of fuel.
7. The amount of passenger traffic in the USSR was comparatively small. There
was always a shortage of passenger trains, more of a demand for them than there
were trains available. The percentage of passenger trains was always low
compared to the freight t:-affic.
8. There was always an attempt to have rail traffic use local fuel where it was
possible to do so. In the north only the passenger trains burned oil. Diesel
was used on fast corridor -trains and on lines where there were steep climbs. On
the lines in the Leningrad area and the Lake Baikal area a substance called
"slanzy" (not peat) was burned in the locomotives. This was a form of earth
which burned easily, and use of this material saved wood. This material was also
found in the region of Kingessep, Estonia. Use of "slanzy" required a modifica-
tion of the burners on locomotives because it produced more ashes than wood did.
On the European plains this type of fuel was widely used. The suburban lines
around Moscow and other cites ran on electricity.
9. On a typical long-distance corridor passenger train between Moscow and Leningrad,
a distance of 609 km, two locomotives would be used (one would take the train
half way and another one would pick it up and take it the rest of the way). If
the locomotives happened tc burn coal or local fuel there would be a crew of
three on each of them. If the locomotive[ were ?~= =~' each one would have a
crew of two. Assuming that there would be 13 or 14 cars on the train (four-
axle care) there would be e crew of five men working on the cars. This was
the number of trainmen operating the trains when I left the USSR (1943) and
I assume that there are [still about the same number.
10. On a typical freight train there would be a crew of three on the locomotive.
The maximum number of cam's on a freight train was 115 small cars, but the
average size was 80 or 85 cars (of varying sizes). There were three conductors
on an average freight trai*s -- one of them, the main conductor, was in one of
the first cars; one was in a middle car; and the third was in the last car and
was responsible for gIvi':g the signals, etc. An additional man was sometimes
added to the train crew for special loads.
11. Railroad personnel had a bas-- schedule of eight hours per day, six days per
week. Employees were permitted to work overtime only when there was a shortage
of personnel. Ordinarily when an employee worked for ,a certain period of time
he was off-duty for double the length of time he worked. Thus if he worked an
eight-hour day he would be off for 16 hours. If a trainman worked for 2h hours
(as in the case of the Moscow-Leningrad run where he would be 10 or 12 hours
out and the same number of hours on the return trip, with one or two additional
hours for finishing up his business at the end of the trip) he would have 48
hours off. When an employyee worked overtime, however, he might work 10 hours
SECRET/US OFFICIALS ONLY
 A0proved For Release 2001/09/11 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500420153-3
SECRET./US OFFICIALS ONLY
and 'b' paid overtime for the extra two hours, but he would have on.j 16 hours
off. In other words he did not receive compensatory time off for working
overtime. On holidays the railroad personnel who worked drew either double
pay or double relief time. It vas possible for employees 'to forego their
earned vacation time and be paid for it instead. Money they received for
unused vacation time was not taxable.
755.224 N
755.223 N
755.35 N
7`5.36i N
792.;05 N
8 C1 T/US OFFICIALS ONLY