TRANSPORTATION - RAIL ECONOMIC - RAILROAD EQUIPMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140205-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 14, 2011
• Sequence Number: 205
• Publication Date: December 1, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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DATE DIST. Dfir- 1951
NO. OF PAGES 6
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
East Germany is an agrarian country. That calls for plows, harrows, moving,
reaping, threshing, and harvesting machinery for beets and potatoes, scythes,
picks, rakes, chains, etc. The East has to import these items from the West
ac semifinished products. There is an industry in East Germany which can manu-
facture these items from the semifinished products, but the prerequisite is
still the import of the semifinished material. Here, as everywhere else, the
nigh-grade steel, witbout which an economy cannot exist, is lacking.
In mining, the reed exists for rock drills, shovels, rails, cars, loco -
tives, and hauling machinery, which in turn requires steel cables. All these
items hrve to be mar,ufectured from high-grade steel. So far, these items have
been imported from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Austria
in barter agreements. However, the barter deliveries are a great burden on the
German Democratic Republic. Preferred export items are coal, sugar, chemicals,
optical products, potash, and fine mechanical products. Fine mechanical products
(typewzitere, calculators, and bookkeeping machines) again require imports of
high-grade steel to meet export requirements. There is a serious shortage of
these products on the 3aat Getman market because export is of foremost conzidere-
t ion in order to safeguard the food supply. If West Germany were eliminated as
supplier, unforeseeable consequences Would ensue.
Where does the German Reichabah-n stand in regard to these problems? Repair
of our tools requires high-grade steel, and our drilling, cutting, planing, and
milling machines need the best tool steel to remain efficient and able to carry
out repairs. We need steel cables for the following: hoisting machinery, coal
crapes, transfer tables, signal installations, shunting installations, arc lamps,
train windows, etc. We have plants which can manufacture cables, but the wire
is lacking. There is no rolling mill in East Germany which can drav rolled wire,
nor have we any suitable material for it. That again spells import. Drawn wire
is needed in large quantities to operate signal.., telephone lines, and gates,
Armature band wire for motors of the S-Hahn LEerlin electric'railroad7 is already
a critical item.
COtVWL/US OFFICIALS ONLY
ales. ir?~~' -
CONROL/
CLASSIFICATION S-E-C-R-E-T SECRET
SECUKth 'I 5B ATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
SUBJECT
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
Transportation - Rail
Economic Railroad equipment
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SEC QT
For the construction projects on the southern freight outer ring, at Aue,
and for maintenance of our trackage we need iron forks (gravel forks), tamping
picks, tie drills, rail saws, and welding rods for hard-facing of switches and
for wheel flanges of locomotives and cars. Our sawmills and cartvright shops
urgently need circular and band saws. For lighting our trains we lack gas
mantles, which have to be imported from the West. To prevent severe damage to
locoiatives, we urgently need barium carbonate to soften the water used in loco-
motive operation. Otherwise, boiler scale will destroy the boiler tubes and
superheater flues, which consist of seamless drawn tubes available only in the
West. Fire tubes, seamless drawn tubes with a diameter of 171 millimeters,
also have to be imported. Tubes cannot be drawn in East Germany; that explains
the shortage in seamless drawn tubes. There is an appalling lack of hose cou-
plings for heating and brake hose. Fittings for locomotives (brass and fine
steel fittings), all high-grade steel spare parts for locomotives such as cross-
heads, slide valves, crosshead slide guides, tie rods, connecting rods, pistons,
piston rods, valves, boiler rivets (steel 37.11), bridge rivets (steel 44.11)
stay rods of steel and copper are also in short supply. Ball bearings, and
needle bearings are urgently needed for the Mahn and for machinery. All non-
ferrous metals (copper, brass, bronze) are hardly available, nor are products
rolled or drawn from these metals.
All spare parts for automobiles, for motors for rail motor cars, for ticket
printing machines, punch-card machines, and paper for punch cards (Hollerith)
wade namej, rails, rail accessories (screws, bolts, fishplates, spring washers),
and switches (switch points and frogs for switch repair) are also in short supply.
There is no end to the material needed, but these are the most important
items. Without them, the railroad cannot operate.
The following table lists the most important items required by the German
Reichsbahn and illustrates the discrepancies between requirements and allotments.
Figures are in tons unless otherwise indicated.
- 2 -
S-R-C-R-E-T
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Requirement
Period of
Item
for One Year
Allotment
Allotment
Metallurgy
U and I beams up to atanaard
5,242
1,211
6 mo
cross section 18
U and I beams above standard
6,945
549.9
6 rso
cross section 18
1,045.4
12 mo import
Standard rails
66,504
1,605
6 no
6,556
3 mo import
Steel bars up to 30 mm
8,710
741.2
6 mo
441.0
12 no import
Steel bars above 30 mm
10,314
1,164.37
6 no
53.2
3 no import
Steel bars of unalloyed
360
25
1951
machine-building steel
Steel bars of unalloyed.
49
14.7
12 no import
high-speed steel
Steel bars of alloyed
110.35
48
12 no import
high-speed steel
Sand steel, hot rolled
Spring steel
Heavy and toiler plates
Medium and boiler plates
115 6 mo
250 12 ma import
502.4 6 rues
619.45 12 no import
840 6 mo
130 3 mo import
205.25 6 mo
360.85 12 import
Percentage of
Requirement
--
Allotted
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Ldioins page 37
454.8 6 no
673.35 12 no import
Light-gauge sheets below 0.9 mm
186
119 7
Wheel tires and centers
18,000
5,500
Seamiess pipe, rolled
5,?w
1,940
Seaal.ess pipe, drava
4,915
448.95
Refined and electrolytic lead 556
Copper pipes 85
Copper bars and sections 775
Copper vireo 379
Aluninus sheets and bands 27
Lead sheets, bands, usd pipes 100
Machine Building ,
Rachsav blades (1,000 Deutsche
marks)
38
35.4
47.1
47.6
7.1
20.5
pilei and rasps (pieces)
189,645
30,000
Bronze and brass fittings
76
4.4
)Ieilrable cast iron
280
99.55
Wire ropes
313
56.55
fAdjoins page 57
6 no
12 no import
6 mo Le' ic7
12 no import
6mo
12 no import
3 no 27
6 mo 83
6 mo 12
6 mo 25
6 mo 53
6 mo 41
6 mo 32
3 mo 23
6 mo 71
6mo 36
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Welding electrodes
Rough bolts and nuts
Wood screws
Rive :s
Barrels and containers (pieces)
Baia bearings (pieces)
fA-djoins page 47
1,096
325
6,262
910
306
25.08
2,035
130
5,726
1,157
25,627
11,410
800.4
1,715
451
1,275
ytlectrical Industry
High-tension cables (km)
244
Wires and1ines (Deutsche
1,405,818
marks)
Chemical Industry
Lacq;aers and paints
4,500
Automobile tires and tubes
12,378
(pieces)
Diesel fuel
7,200
Building -taterials
Cement
standard chamott* and firebrick
13,950
3,977.5
LAdioins page 67
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Woo di+orkivg xi aastry
Coniferous lumber pr.1es
1 and 2 (cu m)
oak ter (c m)
3,000
2,000
51,519
300
355
945
46,700
44
3 mo
12 mO
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