TRANSLOADING FACILITIES AT KOVEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R010300440005-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 20, 2009
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: February 6, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP82-00457R010300440005-8
CLASSIFICATION CoNJ ID TI
CENTRAL INTEL~L
SECURTTI GNCfz aENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR/Poland
SUBJECT Transloading Facilities at Kovel
Document No.
PLACE No Change in Class
ACQUIRED Q Declassified
Class. Changed To: TS S
DATE OF Auth.: HR 70.9 _ _
C~r9 f~
REPORT I 25X1
CD NO.
DATE DISTR. 6 Feb 1952
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO. F ENCLS. 2
(LIST BELOW) 25X1
C SUP CEMENT TO
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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1. Novel is a railroad junction in the northern portion of 17estern
Ukraine at the intersection of the Brest-.azatin, Lublin-
Karosten-~Aev and Lvov Kamien-Koszyrski trunk lines. Due to its
favorable location, the station was selected for a,transloading
point, However, since the existing passenger and freight stations
were not adequate for the additional traffic a net large trans-
loading station was cnnstructedo * Since Dorohusk in P.ol.ish
territory and Yagodin in the U. S . S . R. are believed to be border
crossing points without tran.sloading facilities, it appears
that the standard-gauge track runs as far as ;hovel The trans
loading installations in Kovel are capable of _ h?anndllin(, the
transloading of westbound trdins operating on.,the Yagodin-
Dorohusk-.Chelm line. According to a -Polish-Soviet agreement
a daily quota of three trains-in both directions are scheduled
to pass through the Yanodin border cross:inp point, ** Trains
dispatched to Yagodin ?roux Soviet Zone border.cross.ing points
are reported only occasionally.
2. The new trensloading point at novel was referred to by German
P' ..7s and Soviet soldiers as the i.ashirka (or -r,ishirka) railroad
station.Construction on the installation was started by PVJs
in 1945 and completed in July 194. The installation, which is
1, 5 zmm long and 1 km wide, is d vided into four sect'Lofs
containing about 400 wooden storage sheds with floors 50 x 30
meters each. _ loading ramp to 4 meters wide runs along the
front of the storage sheds. Field railroad tracks run along the
rear of the storage sheds. Between two rows of storage sheds are
one standard-gauge and one Soviet-gauge track plus a Soviet-gauge
track for railroad cranes. Lach of the four sections was equipped
with 5 to 7 railroad cranes- the fourth sect-'on had an acF itional
75-ton gantry crane manufactured by the iardelt.Plant Fuerston-
walde. Between every two storage sheds was an open air storage
site. *x=*
3, From summer 1945 to late 1946 scrap and iron items, including
Gerrzan guns such as field' howitzers howitzers %T guns and ,
tanks, were trannsloaded. In late 1945 equipmen and machinery
of the Ualthor, Suhl and Gustloff ordnance factories and of the
5 YEAR
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NAVY NSRB DISTRIBUTION
ARMY AIR s8a
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 25X1
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Lauchharrier firmm were observed. The ':ransloa- ing of fertilizers
was started in the fall of 1946. From January to +"arch 1947,
about 40 trains ca eying opti:-al equipment such as lenses,
scales field glasses and rTeasuring instruments manufactured by
the Zeiss firm in Jena were observed in addition to various
ties of machinery.. From Iarch to December 1947 four tr~~.i_ns
with prefabricated houses, machinery., and grain arrived daily.
German uniforms, footwear, une'erwlear, gas masks, gas-protection
suits, :roas equipment :an. official documents from the i eichs-
kanzlei ( eich Chancellory) stored in the shedd.s were loaded for
shipping. etween December 1047 n:n' 1.ay ".;'4'a, 90 percent of .ill
shipments wore scrap from the Soviet Zone of Germany. In
December an? January at first four and then eight trains of 40
to 60 cars each arrived daily. Two German car loads kerb tr.ins-
loaded into one Soviet car. Fifty percent of the arriving scrap
canto from bombed Ger ran factories or wrecked aircraft., In early
1943 large quantities of ball bearings for tar!.tks wrapped in
paper arrived. Some freight cars with rails were attached to
each train. in early 1941 a tank ark consisting of hundreds
of T-34 tanks located at the outskirts of hovel was cleared.
The tanks wore loaded and allegedly shipped to Gorki.
From Lay to November 1943 the number of scrap shipments decreased.
Prefabricated houses manufactured in the Soviet Zone of Gerr any
were transloa0ed during that period. In 1,49 30 pe:'cent of
the arriving trains contained fertilizers 10 percent scrap,
and the remaining 10 percent prefabricated houses, trucks, and
wooden boxes of all sizes containing machinery.
Since fray 1949 all the scrap piled up in the area of the
Installation during the previous years has been shipped. In ray
and June 1949 large, quanti t ies of Soviet shells were transloaded
on Soviet- auple freight cars. The shipping of disr.,antled machinery
of all sizes ~rori the Soviet Zone of Germany piled up in 120 to
l~0 sheds since 1947 was started :in ""ay 194. Other s i ds stored
rip es with diameters of 10 to 14 cm. Eighty to 110 sheds we -e
illed with glazed tiles from Gerrany. 6ne third of the sheds was
emp t?r. Only cotton and Soviet tobacco was shipped from the
L~.S.SJ W to the Soviet Zone of Gerriany. A standard Soviet freight
car was loaded with about 44 and a large Soviet freight car
with about 30 bales of cotton, weighing 190 to 200 kg each.
4. then enough Soviet-gauge freight cars were available, trans-
loading from standard to Soviet-gauge took place immediately.
frequently, however, there were not enot ;,h Soviet-mange cars
on hand to effect an immediate transfer of ;nods, one trans-
loading liras clone either by hand or 1.:-Ath a' crane. Throe hundred
to -150 P1's were employed for this work, a detail of 12 to 1,
wror.>ing with one crane. The transloadi.ng of one train tooa_
to 6 hours. On the aver~lge, four to eight trains j,?,ore tran-
loadeidaily, but 12 to 16 trains could be handled in case of
necessity by working day and night. A standard car loaded with
cotton was transloaded by six men in 30 minutes, while a lame
Soviet freight car required one hour for the same crew. If
voviet-gauge freight cars were not available, the goods were
stored in the sheds or piled on the open-air stora-Yo sites,
~Q Conversion of freight cars from standard to Soviet-gauge or vice
versa was done to a small extent. The car to be converted was
lifted by a crane and then the axles were exchanged. Four cars
could bg converted that way by a detail of four to six Pt's daily.
Sip to eight such details were employed.
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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6 14-o information about this transloadin?,, point has been
received since .~ line 1949, because the German personnel
of the locomotive columns have been relieved by Russian personnel
at the Polish-Soviet border and are no longer permitted to
enter Russian territory.
7. The Brest Litovsk-Chelm railroad line formerly crossed the
Polish-Soviet border. The Pules- operated this line from
Chelm to ',:lodat*!a and the Soviets from,Brest Litovsk to Le .lo a?La0
After an exchange of territory arranged betv!een the Sovio sir
and the Poles, the Brest Litovsk-Chelm railroad line noel runs
exclusively on Soviet territory. This line has no strategic
importance whatsoever.
` Ae For sketch of `he novel transloading point,
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Cge~, For schematic sketch of the installation9
see.4 next.
2 Annex s: Two sketches on ditto.
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