TRAFFIC AND LIVING CONDITIONS IN THE DUDINKA AREA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A008000160004-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 25, 2008
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: October 3, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

COUNTRY
SUBJECT
PLACE
ACQWRED
DATE OF
two.
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CEO IN WGENCE AGENCY REPOR
R T CD NO.
USSR (Krasnoyarsk Kray)
Traffic and Living Conditions in the Dudinka
Area
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
NO. OF
E L.S.
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
3 October 1955
5
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
being forwarded as received.
1. In par. 2, page 1, the population figures for NWrilsk iVhould probably r 25X O
to 100,000, and the totals for the a*ea, 165,000 to 215,000.
the rail line under construction frcc the
Norilsk-Dudinka area sout will r to Krasnoyarsk.
CLASSIFICATION
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CLASSIFfCATION CONFIDENTIAL
?COUNTRY USSR REPORT
TOPIC,
Traffic and Living Conditions in the Dudinka Area
EVALUATION)
ACE OBTAINED_
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DATE OF CONTENT 25X1
DATE OBTAINED DATE PREPARED 4 Aua,-ust 1255
REFERENCES
PAGES 2 ENCLOSURES (NO. & TYPE) I - sketch on ditto with legend on ditIt
REMARKS 25X1
This is UNEVALUATED Information
1. The town od Dudinka (69?251N/86?081E) is located at the junction of the
Dudinka and Yenisei rivers. Administratively, the town belongs to the
Norilsk district. The sine-story houses of Dudinka looked rather primitive
and streets were unpaved. The town covered an area about 2.5 kilometers in
diameter. Industrial enterprises were not noticed and the requirements of
t'.e local population were met by artisans. Dudinka gained some imPmtanoe
by its location on the-Yenisei River where it served as a trans loading
point for freight traffic to and from Norilsk. The population was estimated
at 30 to 50,000 most of them settled there by foree. Most of the inhabitants
were employed as loading workers but loading operations were possible only
from mid..June anto mid-September. During the other months of the year, goods
arriving from Norilsk were piled up and goods consigned to Norilsk w25X1
dispatched there.l
2. The total population in the Dudinka - Norilsk area was estimated as follows:
Dudinka
30 to 50,000
Norilsk
70 to 10,000
18 convict camps each
occupied by 3,500 internees
about 65,000
Total
165,000 to 200,000
3. The landing stages set up for ocean going ships and river ships had
railroad connections. A minor railroad repair shop where maintenance
work on locomotives and railroad cars could be performed was also
available on the river quay. Two ration2supply dumps southeast of
Dudinka also had a railroad connection. Dudinka railroad station was
equipped with some shunting tracks.
5. In August 1948, only a railroad line with a gauge of 850 mm was
in existence between Dudinka and Norilsk. In August 1948' and in June 1953,
a railroad journey was made from Dudinka to Norilsk and from NoriNk to
Dudinka respectively. In Norilsk it was learned from Soviets that a
second Soviet-gauge railroad line had been completed between Dudinka and
Norilsk in 1951. The return trip from Norilsk to Dudinka was shbeduled
to be made on this hew railroad line in June 1953. Since, however,this X
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line was destroyed by floods, the journey had to be made on the
narrow-gauge railroad line. It was believed that the new Soviet gauge
line extended to the north of the narrow-gauge railroad line. The
narrow-gauge line between Dudinka and Norilsk daily handled about 10
trains in both directions. The freight cars used had a load capacity
of eight tons. No disturbances occurred on this line during the wi .ter.
Snow clearing details equipped with snow plows kept the line open.
In May 1945, tit was mentioned at Dudinka that plans had been made to
build a railroad line to Tomsk or Omsk. Construction work on this new
line was to be started at both terminals. The line was to cross the
Yenisei River near Dudinka. Some of the steel girders required for the
bridge were seen piled up near the landing stage for river ships. Prior
to la$e 1945, additional bridge building material arrived. It appeared that
the project was given up in 1946, because no more construction material
arrived. In 1948, the bridge sections were still seen stored in the
open in the port area. In 1952, Soviet engineers who had the status
of convicts stated that the railroad intended to build a railroad tunnel
under the Yenisei River. Nothing more was heard of this project in 1953?
It appears that the building or a new railroad line had been pro' Oted
but that this project had not been started for specific reasons
6. Roads extending from Dudinka into the surrounding country were not known
to exist. The railroad line established the only connection to Norilsk.
7. Frost set in about in early September and the Yenisei River soon froze over.
Temperature reached its lowest point in January/February, when tempiwatures
of about -50?C were measured. In late April, temperature. rose slowly,
dropped again for a short period in early May and sub rose
continuouslg. The snow began to melt in April. Dew forme mid-May
to early June. During the summer, the soil thawed up to a depth of 0.5
meters. During the summer months, hs weather was mostly clear. In the
winter months the sky was mostly 59 percent overcast.
Easterly winds prevailed, westerly winds were seldom, while northerly
winds were an exception. The region is rather windy. Most of the time
the wind force was 5 or 6 meters per second. During the winter there
were snow storms which blew a force of 10 to 12 meters per second.
Snow began to fall in early September. Because of storms, the snow cover was
not of an even thickness and high snow drifts formed frequently. On the
average, the snow cover was from 0.5 to 1 meter high.
Comment. For layout sketch of Dudinka, see Annex.
Comment. For landing stages and ration supply dumps, see Annex.
Comment. The construction of a Soviet-gauge (1524 mm) railroad
line between Dudinka And Norilsk was confirmed by several sources.
This line served the Copper - Nickel Combine in Norilsk. The existence
of a narrow-gauge railroad line of 850 mm is unknown. It is irelieired that
the narrow-gauge railroad line had a gauge of 759 or 900 mm.
CONFIDENTI
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Annex
Traffic and Supply Installations at Dudinka.
Legend:
1 Airfield
2 Seaplane base
3 Landing Stage for ocean-goind ships, about 759 m long, with two
Soviet-gauge tracks and one narrow-gauge track.
4 Coal dump
5 Deactivated power station
6 Convict camp No 4-
7 Ration supply dump
.S of it n
9 Dudinka railroad station.
10 Convict camp No 26
11 Convict camp at the Suda Shipyard
12 Landing stage for river ships, about 1 km long, equipped with three
Soviet-gauge tracks.
1; Storage shed.
14 Railroad lepair shop
15 Port administration
16 Quarters of MVD unit
17 Quarters of flying personnel
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