TRANSLOADING FACILITIES ALONG THE UKRAINIAN BORDER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R010200080007-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 10, 2011
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: February 20, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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sloading Station,
7
Sambor is located on the secondary east-west railroad line from Stry to Nowy
Zagorz. The east-west trunk line runs from Lemberg*to Krakau via Przemysl.
Sarabor is noteworthy only because the Soviets began constructing a transloading
station there in the spring of 194. The selection of this site for a trans-
loading station may be attributed to the fact that Lemberg, which would have
bees more suitable, was not able to handle additional traffic. In Sambor,
however, there was enough space available for the construction of a trans-
loading station, and trains arriving from the east can be rerouted to Sambor
from Lemberg or Ternopola"and those arriving from the west from Przemysl without
an 1 loss of time, Transloading operations which usually hamper normal
railroad traffic were thus transferred from a main line to a subsidiary line.
Sambor, therefore., in a sense acts as the transloading station for 1emberg,
2. The Sambor transloading station is directly north of the Sambor railroad station
and extends along the railroad line to Lemberg. The transloading station is 2 km
long and 200 meters wide. the standard-gauge track enters the area of the trans
loading station from the.sbuth. Four standard and Soviet-gauge tracks running
closely side by side are avaiiab.Le there. One Soviet-gauge track leaves the
Station area in the direction of Lemberg to the north. Five rows of wooden
storage sheds, each of them 50x30 meters large,, were constructed. (1)
Up to the fall of 19!47, war material, machinery and foodstuffs were transloaded
at Sambor. Information on more recent commodities is not available. It is
believed that from eight to 16 trains can be transloaded there within Ia 24-hour
period.
.Lt )QII Ivr%I IVIY GONFIDENI'IAL~__
CENTRAL .
A
L-I[GERM A _CY
Mfi
COUNTRY USSR/tzechoslovakia/Hungary
SUBJECT
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF
INFO.
Transloading Facilities Along the Ukrainian
Border
CD NO.
NO. OF PAGES h
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS DOCUMII~jT CONTAINS 1NFORM'ATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UMITEbb STATES WITPTN"TAEMEANING OF THE' ESPIONAGE ACT SO
Sambor T
i,
iI? ~a, Zuriwica, Przemysl Rama Ruska, and Hrebenne have not yet been reported
as tsloading stations. It is believed that these railroad stations are only
Polish gr aoviet border crossing points, a fact which does necessarily imply
that they also serve as transloading stations;' ( saes not neceeaJy imply),
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CO1FIDBUTTALL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
III. Transloadi g Stations in the larpatho Ukraine*
Ater the occupation of astern Galicia south of Lemberg by the Soviets, the
secondary railroad lines in this area gained in importance since this district, which
thus was incorporated into the Soviet-gauge railroad system, borders directly on
Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Therefore, the problem of transloading goods from
Soviet to standard-gauge and vice versa had to be solved there for the first time.
The follow4ng three railroad lines lead from the U.S.S.R. to Czechoslovakia,
Hungary and Rumanita through this newly-acquired Soviet territory:
Sambor-Uszok-Uzhorod-Csap;athe heavy war damages suffered by this line have.
probably'not yet been fully repaired.
Stry-Lawoczne-Munkacz-Clap; transloading stations on this line are Munkacz in.
the'U.S.S.R., Cierna in Czechoslovakia and Zahony in Hungary.
Delatyn-Yasnia-Sighetcamara-Batovo--Csap; Sighetcamara in Rumania is the trans
loading station of this line. (2)
Id order to facilitate the direct exchange of goods with Rumania, Czechoslovakia"
was permitted by the Soviets to operate the Cierna-Csap-Batovo-Satumare/Sighhet
line with its own railroad personnel., locomotives and rolling stock. This line ,
therefore, remained a standard-gauge line. It is believed that this is still
applicable and-that the line mentioned does not handle any freight traffic between
the U.S.S.R. and Czechoslovakia and/or Hungary.
1, Munkacs Mukacevo) transloading station.
he single track Lemberg-Munkacs redesignated Mukacevo) railroad line was
converted into a Soviet-gauge track in 1946. Consequently Munkacs became a
transloading point from standard to Soviet-gauge. In the mean time two other
transleading points were established at Cierna and Zahony. Since the carrying
capacity of the Csap-Munkacs-Lemberg railroad line was limited, no major
transloading stations such as those in Sambor, Kovel and Brest Litovsk have
been constructed on this line. The Munkacs railroad station is about 1 km long
and provided with eight to nine standard and Soviet-gauge tracks. One track is
said to be provided with a third rail so as to be usable for both standard and
Soviet-gauge trains*
a, Transloading facilities. (3)
b. Sanitary ramp.
The ramp was probably so designated because of the hospital located directly
south of it. The wooden ramp is 200 meters long, 10 meters wide., and 1,5
meters high,'A standard-gauge track runs along its northern side and a
Soviet-gauge track along its southern side. Fifteen freight cars can be
transloaded there at the same time.
c. In the New Park are two parallel ramps, each of them 250 to 300-meters long,
10-meters wide and 1.5 meters high, located about 100 meters west'of the
railroad station area. Twenty to 25 freight cars can be transloaded
simultaneously at each of the two ramps, which are provided with both a
standard and a Soviet-gauge track, One 15-ton electric portal crane with a
traveling crab and a caterpillar crane, either Diesel or gasoline powered,
are available,
d. The. fuel ramp is located at the western and of the railroad station area
close to the line leading to Csap. It consists of earth and sand and is
about 300 meters long, 12 meters id.-de, and 1.5 meters high. A standard-
gauge and a Soviet-gauge track run along its two sides. Traisloading
operations were performed by portable hand pumps. One hose line led to the
standard-gauge track, another one to the Soviet-gauge track. One such pump
was operated by two men. From 22 to 25 fuel tank cars could be transloaded
at the same time.
o. Up to June 1949 most of the trains arriving at Munkacs were standard-gauge
trains. From 75 to 80 percent of the goods handled went to the U.S.S."R.,
the remainder. to the west, According to the shipping labels seen, the
standard-gauge trains came from Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria. German
Pffs were used only for the transloading of general goods; army goods were
generally transloaded by Soviet soldiers. Goods were not stored at Munkacs,
but all the commodities arriving were transloaded immediately. Goods trans-
loaded included:
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CONFIDENTJAI
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CONFIDENTIAL'-
'. 3 r ny try
CE IGENC
50X1-HUM
(1) Eastbound goods: Fabrics and cloth, hay, agricultural products, tobacco,
stone and cement, lumber, motors and motor vehicles including Tatra
sedans, machinery, sheet iron and sectional iron, coal some: of which from
Upper S?iebia for the Skoda armament plant, AT and AAA guns besides
artillery pieces of all calibers.
(2) Westbound goods: Grain, ammunition in boxes, iron ore for the Skoda
armament plant.
f. Transloading by hand was performed only during the day. The two cranes in the
New Park, however, worked around the clock. Three hundred to 100 German PI Ts?
in addition to 300 indigenous civilian workers and Soviet soldiers of the local
military post, were employed for transloading operations, All the German Pffs
left Munkacs on '15 June 1919, From 6 to 8 trains were transloaded daily,
Csap transloadin station.
No information has been received on this railroad station,which possibly is only
a border crossing point. It appears that in this area the Soviets left it to
Ctechoslovakia and Hungary to construct the required transloading facilities.
3. Cierna tranaloading station.
The change of names and the revision of' thim. linrilAr is area make it difficult
to obtain a definite picture, two place . 50X1 -HU M
Cierna v ad Tisou and Cierna pri esp. Possibly these two places are identical, The
previous name of the place was Cerna. (1) The Cierna transloading station, the, only
such station existing in Czechoslovakia, is 3 km long, 1 km wide and has 96 tracks,
The layout of the trackage could not be determined definitely. However, it is
believed that Soviet-gauge and standard-gauge tracks alternate with one another, so
that transloading from freight car to eight car or via ramps is possible. Four or
'five ramps each at least one track a9/ re available. Two ramps are provided with
roofs so that goods which must not he exposed to water can be transloaded in rainy
weather. In addition to cranes, 14 exhaustors for the transloading of grain are
said to be available. It is believed that two or three storage sheds are available*
a, Goods transloaded.
(1) Goods shipped from Czechoslovakia to the U.S.S.R.:
Industrial products of all kinds including Tatra and Skoda motor vehicles,
bicycles and motorcycles, artillery pieces of all calibers manufactured at
the Skoda plant, textiles including rubber raincoats and uniforms for the
Soviet Army, footwear.
(2) Goods shipped from the U.S.S.R. to Czechoslovakia:
Cotton, iron, steel, iron ore and large quantities of grain. Approximately
300 freight cars} i.e. five to six trains, could be unloaded daily*
b. Conversion of freight cars.
The conversion of freight cars from soviet to standard-gauge and vice versa is
performed at the Cierna railroad station. No recent information on the procedures
for these conversions and the number of freight cars which can be converted there
dail
is avail
bl
y
a
e.
Zahony transloading station,
Zaho is the only trans loading point in Hungary. The Soviet-gauge railroad system
ends in Zahony. Numerous press reports concerning an extension of the Soviet-gauge
track system in the direction of Hudapest a believed to be unfounded. Work on the
construction of the Zahony transloading station was begun after World War II. he
station was completed in late 1918. (5) the arrangement of
th
t
k
f th
rac
e
s o
is
en a --ear picture on the transloading
operations. several tracks are provided with a third rail
so that they could be used by both standard and Soviet-gauge trains. 50X1-HUM
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VV/\ I-1 IIJIVI
CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
5. Summarizing, in regard to the transloading facilities in the Csap area? it
appears that the Cierna and Zahony transloading points are more efficient
than the Soviet transloading station at Munkacs, The weakest point seems to
be the Csap railroad station,which must handle the traffic to both Czecho-
slovakia and Hungary,
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loaded freight car is toed around its longitudinal axle and thus
emptied into. another freight car standing on the adjacent track, An
8 to 10-ton crane was also available. Sixty wars loaded with slaughtered
pigs were transloaded in three hours, Forty cars with flour were
transloaded by hand in seven hours. Fifty cars with machinery were
transloaded in five hours by means of the crane and by hand,
The Zahony transloading station is provided with two freight car
converting plants. In these plants the axles of cars are brought to the
gauge desired by shifting the wheels. The conversion of one car takes
about 10 minutes.
Sghetcamara (Camara la Sighet and Sinaet.
et and ,amars is believed that these two names are
place names, and that they may refer to stopping points or normal railroad
;stations. There is only one transloading point in this sa,
Sighetcamara
which
i
,
has always been a major railroad station provided with Z a & Mc ca
facilities required for a locomotive terminal. After orld War II Sighetcamara,
Previously in Hungary, was ceded to Rumania and the area north of it, previously
held by the Hungarians and Poles, became Soviet territory. Thus Sighetcamara
became a border crossing point and was also made a transloading point equipped
with facilities for the conversion of freight cars from Soviet to standard=gauge
and vice versa. (6) Soviet-gauge trackage leads from the north as far as
Sighetcamara via Stanislau and Delatyn. A standard-gauge track runs from
Sighetcamara to Csap. Since the Czechs for the time being use the Cierna-Csap-
Sighetcamara line for their trade with Rumania, the line section between
Sighetcamara and Valca Visaului, which is part of the Soviet-gauge track system,
also offers the possibility of standard-gauge operations. However, definite
information on this point is not available.
1. Besides the through tracks the Sighetcamara transloading point is provided
with two standard-gauge and two Soviet-gauge transioading tracks which run
parallel to each other and are 250 meters long..Transloading is performed
by hand directly from car to car. The railroad station is also equipped with
two ramps, provided with one standard-gauge and one Soviet-gauge each,
Cranes and storage sheds are not available.
2. Goods transloaded from standard to Soviet-gauge included lumber,, foodstuffs
and machinery,,,, while coal, iron ore and grain were transloaded from Soviet
to standard-gauge. The transloading of one train with dismantled equipment
took from six to eight hours, Two trains were transloaded every day.
Comments,
(1 .or layout sketch, see ionex 1.
(2) For layout sketch, see Annex 2.
(3) For layout sketch, see Annex 3.
(4) For layout sketch, see Annex 4.
(6)
as Hungarian reparations goods of all kinds and Hungarian pigs were
transloaded.
b, Zahony is provided with a car tipping plant (Vaggonbuktate). The
For layout sketch, see Annex c.
For layout sketch, see Annex 6.
CONFIDENTIAZ
as Cop.
Comment. Lemberg is now known as Lvov.
6 Annexes: 5 - sketches on ditto.
1 - ozalid v*Ah e?
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Z .sloa.ing- Station of tbor
Soviet gauge
standard gauge
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POLAND
to S atu - Mare
1 double (rack :7ar~dard gauge
Single Track sfcandw'd gauge
Single frock Sovle~ gauge
RUMANIA
5 C&/e i /,0001000
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50 -300 m --~ \ y
Soviet gauge
standard gauge
Hospital ramp
2 Park
\ M v n ka C z
Station building Storage shed t
N 200
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egend:
Sovr'ef gauge
H---1- standard gauge
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.............. . .
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.
..end
..._...,...._ Soviet gauge
.standard gauge
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Technical Installation of the Zahony Transloading Station
Legend.
I Coal dump, 1,800 tons
13
Customs office
2 Boiler house
14
Warehouse
3 Water tower
15
Temporary technical equipment depot
4 Turn table
16
Operating of points
5 Loading site
17
Rails dump
6 Shed
18
Assembly hall
7 Storage shed
19
Erection ropeway station
8 Oil and coal dump
20
Shunting station, I, 600 meters long
9 Siding
21
Traffic control tower
10 Quarters for train crews
II Generator station
12 Station building
CCNFl1)EP TIAL
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