THE STATUS OF HUNGARIAN RAILWAYS AND RAILWAY FACILITIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040574-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 2011
• Sequence Number: 574
• Publication Date: November 2, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION CoWIDEIJTLL
SECURITZ I!a'QtW.TION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT NO
INFORMATION REPORT GUIDE 33
CD NO.
COUNTRY ts=garg
SUBJECT The Status of Hungarian Railway. and
Railway Facilities
DATE
ACQUIRED BY SOURCE
DATE OF INFG ION
i r9............. ,.. .. r...v.r,.. .r ..,. r... r. r...re, ...,r
SOURCE
DATE DISTR. 'o. dO 14 1953
NO. OF PAGES 7
NO. OF ENCLS.
I LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
s
I. Repair Shop and Ro=dbmm
II. Bell roadssaad DogbJ.r2raok Roadbeds
in. lbmtaetm s of Looaiotives
IV. lnllaan Cars (Saoapiap Cars)
V. llSreboulm Tardy
1I. Available Ra114 a~ Stools, 1945 and later
VII. 31600E and Suitobes
VIII. Slaws and Caaditioa of ltuaprriaa taS11i Stook
IX. Detailed Charts of Pb4or Railway Repair Shops
I. _Ropalr Shops and Roundhonmes
1. Sukssfebsr se
a. Ia ;938;tb -,8goparian Gooearamt VAmbo ad tbo Austrian Bailry, DRZAY
(Drnabe Save Adeietia dailry). -`Ri irun soma s vers assigned
the project, of aonnrtift aei'? sad iag
it - to the >ta'umas'iaa
SsNossle sear radidbeirs?W
foZlari sin Tars La~silai t vpDa r ?
b. The roandlsense;vds . 1ie`ps, std - I op rtofll, it ooald
hoa.ii; abq as ftT';Lawiwi 25X1
bi oitiwa.
r CL SSIFICATIO
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CONFXDENrIAL/SECtRrrY IMPN&TION
c, The main repair shop for Southwestern Hungary in 1945 was located at
Szekesfehervar. It could handle general repair on any of the Hungarian
rolling
d.. By 1945 Szekesfeher'asr hard became the major railway junction for Southwest
Hungary. Three importan?:: ralz.way Tines carried the traffic through Snekesfe-
hervar. These were as f~vs
(1) A main line from Szekea:-h-,r?,nrr to Budapest via Martonvasar. The rails
were for heavy duty and wes-A laic specifically for fast trains.
(2) A line, for light rolling s:,ck :eaa laid to .dapest via Bioske.
(3) The third line served Komarom, Qyyor and Kisber.
(4) A lose important line linked Ve4prem and Siofok.
e. Incidentally a small plant which produned acetylene gas was located on one
of-the rail. aidings one-ha.f kil:meter from the repair shop. The Hungarian
State Railway uttl.iasd the ssetylene gas for lighting purposes. In order to
provide light f:r passenger and pullman cars, tanks were mounted under the
bodies of stb care. The tanks were of three sizes m three, five and fifteen
cubin maters. I have mentioned this plant because I know that it didn't
suffer from bombings during World War II. The Hungarian State Railway has
since 1940 ',onverted from anstylone to butane, but in 1945 a number of the
passenger cars were still using acetylene for lighting purposes.
f. It must be remembered that the Szekeefehervar railroad facilities are parti-
cularly important to Southwest H ngary, for this junction, in addition to
providing an adit from Western Europe by rail, also serves as a marshalling
area for the agricultural produce and livestock of Southwest Hungary.
2. Istvantelki Fwauhely
a. Istvantelki Fanuhely was in 1945 the largest repair shop in operation by the
and 1943. The shops were well equipped with furnaces, steam, electric and
hydraulic hammers and toolsr. It was considered the best equipped railroad
repair works in all of Hungary. In addition to actual repair and construction
of n~!vr equipment we 'carried oaconstant research and development projects in
all phasss of railroad equipment and iparations.
d. Prior to World War II'the sennel was appreslastely 3300 but was expanded
wininiatra-
to 4500 during the vt-. These figures are rsprssentstive of the
tions the repair and asiatenance people who worked at the.. repair shops
e. With reference to new construction we averraged three new passenger cars
pu' month.
f. in rebuilding rolling {took,, we were able Is do 85 to 10% 'of the
necessary Park. This . " the usual mount of repair, that L to may, the
rallLg stook was almost worthless when in received it. -As I isoall, we
rebuilt from -123 to 130 freight oars par*meeth.
g. Practically all repair neoeseary on railmy eil'taokers was affected at
Is:mtelki Foe bely. Further, not railway task cars were built at this
Installation. We had all the required tooling for tank oar construction,
steel rolls,. welding equipment, riveting wachiass and press". All replace-
sent parts for tank cars wars stored at Istvaotalki Famuhely and shipped to
'other functions and repair shops When'requ"ted'by'the..
h. Istvantelki Fosahely_didn't produce new losonetivss but did do repair work or
modify then whenever alteration or abaft* was directed by the State Railway.
L. We built oil tank cars in three sLes 10 tons ~~t7el tons WA 20 tons. In
1943 had begun to build
30. t ..
3. I stated that these shops were the largest in Hungary. They covered
an area about five kilometers long and approximately two and one-half kilo-
astern wide. The main building was a two-story affair with steel fro ing
and brick walls. Actually all_ofthe_builMigw had steel framing. buring
World War II the Allies bombed Istvantelk Fomubely. About _of
the appurtenances wars destroyed, but I recall taut the steel framing
of the ba_i.ldixs remained greet.
(1) That r-ohiie shop; perhaps the most. Important section of Istyantalki
Famnhel.y, was untouched. I recall, however, that QM mortars did
make hits in two or three spots but did relatively niaar and incase-
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(2) The passenger and freight oar repair section was denolished, to the
extent of approximately 90%.
(3) App.i'oxdznately5 of the locomotive repair section was destroyed.
(4) When the forces of the liiSR took over the Budapest area 'the gave
priority to the repair: ofIstvante'lki FomWtely.
in Hungary in 194? thus:. repair effected by the ov ? , W
Hungarian personae), .:~ returned the installations to in. alasit normal
capacity (I cannot say, however, that the repair was 1O .cepletsd).
k. The repair shop had one imposing i.;scsk amd"one out geing.track. )he incoming
track branched.oat into fie main arteries plus a,r.ixth artery used exclusively
'for passenger car repair., There was a total of 40. separate tracks inside
these repair shops. . , '
1. The impoottance of Istvantelki Fomuhsly can best be expressed as followas if
it ware act fuactiauing, 60% of the ,clling stock of all Hungary would suffer
for this is the only shop in Bwgary which, can effect major repairs on loco-
aet~s,t, . Hnsrr ] if t. eauinaent
mottvss and. railing stock x?= 15 tens in
consists of a 60-ton ,elsotric lift which was used for elevating ltcoaaotive$,
and -a 35-ton electric lift .(we reinforped this lift. so that 40 tons could be
elevated) which was uffed. in the passenger and freight odr_ratttorn of Is vertelki
Fomuhely.
m. Near. Istvanteaki Fomuhely is w+sated one. of the, only tw..rxygen plants in Hungary.
The output of this plant in 1945 was, 30 cubi.meters per hour. The plant was
operated by eight men who were employees of, the Hungarian StateRa Tway.
The oxygen derived from the instellatioa.was used primarily by the.rallways
and the army. I know for certain that 30% of all oxygen pr^dusri. to Hungary
came from this source. ,ounce states that the oxygen plant was intact and
in no w damaged during World War II,a Incidentally, 50% of all oxygen
consumed by .Hungarian industry was purchased in Vienna, Austria up to 1945.
I can recall that we received occasional shipments from Vienna.
3. Ferene - Veross The Northern repair shop (8eseki Fomuhely)..
a. Thera was a large repair shop at Fereno-Varoa.9.also near?Budapest. In fact
it was, the third largest in Hungary..
b.. This installation had tbs. faoil ties to repair one parti gm--type of Steam
driven locomotive,, all types. of i].etrieally driven loco otives, freight
cars and.tankera. (Incidentally this was the only repair;shop in Hungary
spesitieally equipped to repair electrie.lco~cvsatives.)
,o. In?aar repair,.lesaki Foam consistently turned out more repaired freight
oars r-sr month than any'other shop.,
4. Ssombethelys .
a. The. repair shops at Szombathely are about the same size as those at
Ssekesfebervsr.- '
b. The repair facilities were design for s010118r..r$L1at. steakssueh as the
asail Hungarian looeooti'es and.freight and passenger oars with lye than
lt4nn .a...nte
Tjw p W AO 0
to the tars nrossam took over 'control and administration of.this
Center.)
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. Debreceng
.a. The second largest railroad junction and railway center in Hungary is located
at Debrecen.
b. The =amber of workers at the repair shop dorm World War II was approximately
one, thousand (Complement now unknown to source).
c. The repair shop is located at the edge of the city in the Southeastern
sector. This shop is about four kilometers squWe: ~.- -,
d. It 100 ems irk and one Outgoing teak. Imi_de t' shop the total
amount-of tracks with all arteries, is 24.
e. The work at the Debrecen' & ope is essentially concentrate,d... - repair, of
rol14 ua stock and body eeastruation.
f. The bodies manufactured are of two eategariss both passenger ear and
freight ear bodies are turned out.
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CO~ID13rI41,~3RCt8ITY I~tkI 2rOA
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g. Although Debrv ac? ,n ors Hoyt; equipped with t ~oL - it couldn t t be- compared to
the shoos at Ir~Vartolk4 Fnnrthely. -
h. I might mention the general ac'ganitation of the shop at Debrecen for it %a
rep.esentatirre of all the s-z^gea shops in
(1 Th
jawrAr" e Adminizt-r ation LQpP . aunt. Tha Uef of this' department was 'Gyula
wh,~ i a now de mo:? . From what I have heard Gensssy;"M L..)
now (Septembor 1953) Chi,-' ^d nlstratat of the shops.
(a) Genessy Sandor should bs about 55 year's of ages He is aSraduate
of Joseph University, &zdape, t. I believe the vear of graduation
was about 1;26. Sandor i~? 'a good .railway, technioian, is bright and
?xerztees good judgment. He'has a str' y. He
is ma'tied and has a grctm daughter. he was
Oki of of the paaoer ger and freight aq
ee flan. As I racol? ect,'
when tha tiSSR fo+rras en" ?i.. d Amt: e-an 3 ~ left for some unknown
deatinst:o-
in 19
rotwn;,d t? -? r. ..t n onthb 1st?r. Sandir
."m
e
of tTre auggar Peasant Party.
l>) a ep hop for P er an a ors.
(6) By 1945 a sixth department vas added. It was referred to as the main-
'
e'?`?."eF' 6wwniet Pa: tY ' ' , - - e r ?.ia3 bi.~ th..t i ..n' air: prtibab';.1ity
ty he
h8~ g;r e ai ig w . i tht, t`s ~ t a a matteear s?f e,7padieno:r, He
ds pees s r ctaan' Ts ai nEC,s whi :h &hcv d invite caution when
dealing with him.
(b) The .:?aep neibi, f= rtp& r ~ Qw- wt+on 44d mha.nttvanoo as
w
dspartnontZ
ell a@ rwiarch? WW design. He, i(8 also 'it charge of, the other
(2) The Auditing and AG:ouating Department.
(a) This department handles the personnel records which includes salaries
and vsges?:
(b)' All auditing for the-shops is handled in this station'.
(3) 'NachineryDspartmentr- The-top men in-this department,' of cotmse, is a
qualified engineer.
(4) Lbeonotive Repairs This department in 1947 was supervised by Bsnedek
(I know that he 'is no longer there' but dontt knaW bi present
vhelsaboute.) No is probably 57 years of age now. (Sept`m'ber'1953).
Although he has a f round, "Bendel is a rather strper-
fi^.ial pex?2:as1_ty. he had may pol'itio*] affiliationa
which he always rolled upcn. Benedek, prior to USSR occa tiara
t
e
enanpe d artarent 11 an
? its fnnatir.-'
i. The -F at, vuLwOrOu was able to rebuild five large pasaeager- oi 'a 10
$mall-p:~.aaengsr oars'psr month,
j. The'aspair`of paseengsr ciri'amounted to 25'psr math.
k. Profit 15 to 20 freight oars were rebuilt per month and from 100 to 110 freight
care -m n repaired 'during this mole *lad
1. The fxa.ight car bodies' built' at,Dobrecn titsof there Oft"-S
(1) The capacity of thi saailes't was 10 tons.
(2) 15-tbn frSYght .car: (lest- of the freight' oars utilised on. Ht'zegArian
railways aTeragsd 15 tone:)
to 1945 war* of 20-ton as
BMS. odaation in l
er?gievvclume-' of the 25-ton sizescldcome out w a nat g t ung ton
until 1949. erway
n. Dning World War II .-Aar repair got underway. 1rauL use to roux tankers
per math were spar-.ni. Tank repair faallities and equipment vets emssllent.
We could repair the tank shells and as I recall' out? *Amour* equip.snt utilised
in tatting tanks was very good.
e. Les -a1i pa"essed f[trititiss for repairing the trucks of rolling stock.
This repair included work on the aslw, eprinSi, bearigge and wboo s.
p. The shope'at Debrecen suffered critical damage from USSR sss ult and Allied
bombings. "dy 1949,' a~r', the" wars,opersrig at 100%-.opacity and efficiency.
(Tee tunotjoas of this stop vets impeded about-67% by the World War II?deoars.)
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d. BudsP.et-Ceglsd-Ssolnak. This railway line was badly damaged during World
War no particularly around Seolnok.- It was fully repaired by 1948.and was
in gooda edition -?onLy steam driven locomotives operate on the above lines
which. are double traaked along the entir. r e.
e;. ?hard L double track from Miskolc to Baaoe ia] only steam driven locomotives
,"Id. fney.cannot travel over 60 Isms per hots because the gradients are
steep an4.anu?ves net.propec bank d. Locomgtives attempting speeds in
excess of, 60 kas Pr" hour h37 hf ovrrturaad a nuabsr. of times.
f. dudapiat U~fazaez-szd not. This railroad is doubli track, but actually it
amen been. in good
condition ,tar it. his. sewad:pZiaaeily as a secondary
ar branch Line. It is , used, chiefly far: the. hauling of auger beets.
g. Incidentally, if nay,may Agosa!t fail r, all of the sai]aray. linfia .:in
Tingary. wre standard gaugea.that is four feet aim inches wide t
q. Some of -`; finer nrecicion toole for Hungarian railway work were located
at Debret: :,, The?rc wan- one ma ,.:ne in particular which I feel is wcrthy
of n. ti m, It is a, machine turret affair which contains a, largo press
and a mac-..eft lathe. It 'mind press the outer flanges of wheels for
locomotives. This press coup, of course; press up to 1.8 meters in
diameter with precision. :?. w~;.s c:althrated to a precision of 1/1000 of
an/mm(I don't know the Englis1, nano- for this .maehine but recall that'in
Hungarian we called it a marry-g..-rowd lathe and press).
U. Railroads and Double-Track Roadbeds
There were ,jry few. double-track roadbeds in Hungary in 1945. I can, hcwe?r.ar,.
recall and dame: ibe the fal_ Ming ones;
a. Vienne-Gy.--?Budapest was double tracked the entire distance between the above
junctions, This r +adway and roadbed were in excellent condition. Heavy
zty rails had bien laid for high speed? Incidentally this oats the only
:.ailway Line in all Hungary vhi.h was eleat.:ifi.ed the entire distance. _
I.orp- vest were permitted to t_ nv.L over it at .120 Ions per hour L75 mp/
an ;rd perzitttd to pull, freight cars ;with a maximum load weight of 40
:ens per car.. The line was. used.by,, i both passenger and freight trains.
Since this line was one of the busiest in the entire country, all operations
in signaling were electrically devised and controlled. We Ltjlied a block
system which operated at maximum intervals of sawn- minutia ?. Electricity
utilized along this railway was 50 cycles so that any of the Hungarian power
stations were able to feed into the Hungarian Railway power lines tk'r?:':gh
tranifarmerso Sleotrlfigation'Oi the Vienna-G-ar-Budapest line began in
1935 and was completed in 1937.
b. The -Hie 'rom Budapest to Hatvan.is double trac the tire. distance. Top
speed over this line in 1945 was 80 kos per, hour 550 mph .. Loads. of maximize
weights were hauled over this roadbed for it was in excellent condition.
From Hatvan to Miskolc there was only single tracking in 1945.. But .from
Miskolc to Kama. iias] double track had-been"'laid'for the entire distance.
The line.fros?$etvan to Kassa was badly damaged by bombing during world War
1I. Howevr, the Soviets rebuilt. the entire. line from Budapest to Matvan
to Miskolc-'t g?I~yiregyhasa to IIngvara,a',9,7. The line is nor double tracked between
all of the above paints. It is not electrified, however, being Constructed
for only,r.,..team powered locomotives. Work was completed on this line by
draw 60 erlms at 50 kas per boat L.Ng =ph,
I,II.. itinyfeoiure of %oc xi olives ` : . .
a. ft e Hungarian State Locona ive Factory located at Budapest on Sorobariut
and Kobaa ':i ut is devised for the construction of steam-driven locomotives.
It?wea equipped to produce two types of locomotives:
~l?) Type 328 was designed for jjigh a edit This locomotive could draw. 32
axles at 85 -kms per how 53 wptd. It was used. br? both.tkvighL id
pa senger.hauliag With saiphssis upon the latter. ~pInpassenger work
t32a was t permit sd _ to a reseed the nation= Ltfi ft has per how '
26-0 upw looace ureble to speak adequate?English, aould.aob make
clear whetbitr he meant 16 cars or 32 oars when he used the expression
A32 Wdeaa
?(21 Type;`24 - deeig sd for heivy loads. .It could draw 52 axles .t 75 kms
(3) Ibis shop also turned out another angl-mis *; e 324. This locomotive could
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- 6-
en
,
to 450.
VII?? Slgaale and Switches
Is. Electriz:: Loeometives - W. had in epe2,ation only one-type of electric
locomotive, It was nemedi after -its; inventor, K.ando Kalman. The plant
which Fu oduead the Kando Kalman was located at Cana in the suburbs of
Budapest. The Kando Hair.--r electric lac emotive was rroduced in two
serial sequencess one engine as designed. for high speed and light hauling.
The ether was manufaoturaa for ..v speed and envy hauling. The faster
locomotive to top speed W" W,,'- 'no o hour 2- mph/. The slower locomotive to
top speed was 75 kiss per hour L47 .
IV. Pullman :Cars (Sleeping -Caro)
a. -,?%1a,man eara'oould be drawn over any of the aforementioned double.track lines
without anyalteration?of'tracks or wheals. I can recall, however, that in
.1945 the lines between Debrecen-and Fuzeeabonywere considered. unsafe with
referent to use'of:Pullman q e., The locomotive had to reduce. its: speed to
10 has Lfivs and oatamhslf mph, because _s the extremely sharp. curves. The
radius of these curves at a,nuaber of points was lees, than 200 meters.
Ineideetelly,a minimait 1?,2 200 meteors radius is required as auital le for the
use of the ft rien pullman cars,.in.negotiating.ourvea with safety.. b. Pullman cars cannot be drawn over. the?t'atls south of.Egyek.Lsic-Egyek?7.
The curves in this area are far tob sl-'ap.
V. Marshalling Yards.- The following focal points can be considwed. marshalling
yards for.they.each--poisess large railway sidings, storage. facilities and
per's nnel who can transfer loads from one ..train to another. These points are
Szek Ls`tZ7, Batvan,., Szolnokp Debrecen, Bikeaesaba, ? Szeged,. Pecs, Dombavar,
lopoever 5i4vesprem, Gyor and Komarom,
VI. Available Rolling: Stook, 1945 or later
a. In 19{~ t4gre were 28.eleotrie-driven locomotives in Hungary. That same
y-ar 119the Hungarian State Railwy -laid plane for the' construction of
12 mere. I learned later that sin of tke.projected?12 had been 'constructed.
(I learned is 3950'. W~ttr tka ,Love 1