RAW MATERIAL SHORTAGES AFFECTING THE REICHSBAHN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A005300420009-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2007
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: November 1, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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r app y TMIATion Tor replacement and ma
, inc e sup ua ion i'or replacement and ma
s
German Reichsbahn reached critical proporti
in the near future, unless some radical change in strategyq;undertaken
by the Last German authorities,, or funds were made available to purchase
some,of these items abroad, The most critical shortages existed in the
supply of small items of hardware, which were completely unobtainable in
East Germany or by import from abroad; in supplies of non-ferrous metals;
in railroad ties; and in the supply of hard coal for operating purposes
(locomotive coal),
1954. There was little if any prospect of
2. attempt was made to break the bottleneck in the supply of railroad ties
by including this item in the trade agreement with the Rumanian Government
According to the agreement reached for 1954, 120,000 railroad ties wefe to
have been deli R mania to East Germany between March and September
1954-'.Alt houg ders were issued to cover this requirement, as of
20 August only s had been received, and there of of whQq~ + rqt a remainder of the order would be filled:' This delivery
of fide ercent of the total ordered was insufficient to replace even those
ties which were completely worn out. /
In an effort to clarify the details
under the formal trade agreement ter
Deputy Minister for Railway Affairs,
tiate with government authorities in
iveries
of the,
0 nego-
er visit was to no avail,
however, since the Rumanian Government refused to make any further deliveries
because of the failure of the East German Government live up to the de-
livery terms pr.,ca.~,ie,rcur-ren greements. It
apps That the main cause for t Rumanians was the
failure of East Germany to delive ich was to have
been produced by Zeiss Jena again 0 p aced by the Rumanians.
4,, For 1954, Poland was scheduled to deliver to East Germany, under the terms
of the reciprocal trade a$rwea-ent, one million tons of pit coal for use in
firing railroad locomotives. There had been absolutely no deliveries of
it coal from Poland in 1954. A.nd aQ of iAt. e?-4. +,n_?- 1,-A ' 1-di~
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SECRET CONTROL/,U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
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and no word had been received in the Ministry for Railway Affairs as to the
reasons for the failure to deliver. The Ministry had taken steps to order
pit coal briquettes to use in place of the Polish coal, but no de-
liveries had been made. The railroads were obliged to use raw lignite
shipped directly from the mines to fire the locomotive boilers, but the
deterioration of the operating equipment had reached such proportions that
this practice would soon have to be discontinued, The raw coal was so high
in moisture content that the normal operating time of a locomotive standard
boiler grate was cut to ten percent of its usual lifetime, i.e. to 10,000
kilometers as against a standard norm, using pit coal, of 100,000 rail
kilometers. Each replacement of a boiler grate required an extraordinary
increase in the time the locomotive was in the roundhouse repair shop as
compared with its operating time. 25X1
5.
In 1951, there was a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm .expressed by
Reichsbahn authorities over the suggestion and development of a means for
using coal dust in firing locomotives in order to overcome the shortage of
high.. rode pit coal for this purpose. Forty-eight express train locomotives
in top??notch condition were converted to the use of coal dust, However,
as of Augus 1t nine of these locomotives were out of scission;
the remaind me inoperative because of clogged and rusted fuel
compressor 1 ng the dismantling of the entire locomotive boiler
and tender for epairs. Subsequent research into the causes for this high
operating mortality indicated that, because the coal dust was so moisture-
laden, it tended to clog the pipes leading from the compressor to the engine,
and subsequently very quickly increased the rate of rusting of these pipes.
Cleaning and/or replacing these pipes leading from tender to locomotive
required the dismantling of the entire tender and locomotive, which greatly
increased the time factor in all repair work. The Ministry of Railway Affairs
ordered the entire program of conversion of locomotives to the use of coal
dust for firing dropped without fanfare, and instead ordered the use of raw
SECRET CONTROL/U.S. O F F IIU A L S' (1NLY
Approved For Release 2007/07/25: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005300420009-1
 Approved For Release 2007/07/25: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005300420009-1
Approved For Release 2007/07/25: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005300420009-1