PRODUCTION OF REFRIGERATOR CARS AT THE WEIMAR RAILROAD CAR FACTORY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R005400300008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 2, 2001
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: July 27, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

IYTELlOF1Y 19 ieeumoEN7?IAL 01
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Approved For Release P82-00457R005400300008 5
L;L1 U'IUNtt IU14
? CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY Germany (Russian, Zone)
SUBJECT Production of Refrigerator Cars at
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PLACE
ACQUIRED
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DATE OF
INFO.
the Weimar Railroad Car Factory .
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CD NO.
DATE DISTR. 27 July 1950
NO.OF PAGES 4
NO. OF ENCLS. 2 Annexes
(LISTED BELOW)
REPORT NO.
SUPPLEMENT T
.L a M1Ip to to t '.E~unry lc95.c only narrow;- aui..'e cars
were bull t , at the . eii1^r (; 51/J 57) tnliroad
C :r Factory. They included rzotor+ rail cars
1. on. tlrnb :r cars, lorries and boxcars. This
production was discontinued in favor of the
m:-;nufncturo of convertible rofrigeretor cars.
co Convertible refriCerator cars; (1)
2, The tollowin ; data were supplied on the indi-
vidual types of cars produced in '.:'einar
a.~tyyy~14arro ?r>Gauc a motor
f~railars' They ar79et~
about
~y6 2- meters {low n{oe ili~1y 2 axles meters gwid a and run
on trio bo ios lWnA o axles each W The he body
of the car is of waoa. The power unit, whose
output is estimated at 80 to 100 HP is mounted
on a base formed by 180-mm tt-13irdere a some of
the individuci.l parts of the power unit were do-
livered by unidentified delivery pl ontsn l ad-
dition to the mentioned pover unit these cars
are equipped ith a coal burning steam turbine
`he scheduled monthly output of these motor
r^..il cars is 200 units. The actual output,
however, is only 150 to 180 a
b. arrow-gau,ae lone timber o nrsa a These have
two'a$plegy8o4iL.t`ig rv belr.; used foyr"the loading
e,b. W lit e 4 'rho scheduled monthly .IC.uto of pro.-
du.ction, is 350 units, the actual output a 32U.
Approved For Release 2001/03/05: CIA-RDP82-
IDEIVTIAL in accordance with the
letter of 16 October 1378 f
This document is hereby regraded to
CONF
rorn the
Director of Central Intelligence
to the
Archivist Of the United States.
PJext Review Date: 20.1#3
 Approved For
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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(1) `the- have been in production since zbout the
beginning 1950. The hundredth car of this type is
scheduled to leave the plant by late nay. wince
1 Larch 1950 the rate of production has been one
car daily, but this is soon to be raised to 2 cars.
The car is 16 meters long and has a usable width of
21 iaetcrs a since the insulation is about 15 cm
thick the overall width of the car is about 2.:5
`t
meters o The outer side of the car has a 22~'=n
iron sheet while the inner side is lined with zinc
sheet. The insulating layer is of .ass wool
Part of the sheets required for the body of the
bar are delivered by firms in the vicinity of
Hannover (L 53/1 32) and Salzgitter (21 53/C 88).
The interior of the cars, which have an estimated
load capacity of 18 tons (not maximum capacity) is
fitted with 136 meat hooks.
(2) The car runs on two four-wheel undercarriagesg
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flanges, the frames (.prim;;s) and the oil contn_ine;rs
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the wheel sets come from Czechos, ova ia..
The Czech delivery plants are unidentified.
(3) Devices convertin these cars are not available.
The wheels are pressed on cylindrical axles of equal
diameter and adjusted by means of crortil)o (!%nnex)
to either . uropean or :;oviot gauge, '4hiie, this Is
25X1X being done the car is lifted by a crane. The axles
which are turned do not stops for the
different gau-'es , (4). the turned-off
section is longer than the play between auropean and
soviet gauge (2).
(4) The conversion of the car is being done by the
simultaneous shifting; of the two wheels of an axle,
two men having to hold the Wheels on each side. The
exact position of the 1 heels is determined by the
tread measurements of the conversion clamps (see
sketches i3 and C (3). In standard-gauge position
IrFI ENTIAL"
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 Approved For Release 2001/03/05: CIA-RDP82-00457R005400300008-5
CONFIDENTIAL
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only half of the brake block is in contact with
the wheel set, the full brake block being in
operation only aa..:ov1et- ;a.ur,;e position(5).
(5) Only the, three mentioned types of cars are
presently be;1n manufactured in `1',e1mwx.r- The
narrow-aa.uce care are loaded on standard German
cars and shipped to Brest Litovsk (a 55/i 87) ,
,while the convertible refrigerator cars are as-
serlbled in trainoof 16 to 18 cars and transferred
to Brest Litoi?sk.
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Luxury fast train coaches (iilue :express) with the
same conversion mechauiain are hein, built in oa-
mendorf 52/A) 92) near Halle. The satimated re?.t?e
of production is one coach daily.. Gonvortible
rcfriL,e? ra.tor cars tire said to also be built; In Des-
sau (.., 52/:, 12) (6) a
(1) Gouty onto The intere:; tin, item of this rear
pow 1 To .roductiori of convertible riefrigerator
cars (p`?ra %irx) .8 Ole report b:hich supplies detailed
tech. .c3 i a,ae,a aefinite.tF,, cc thr.t convertible
.rei.13t cars are being built on the :::.od,.rn method
of sitlftiw the wheels in the .jovie: t .one ur 4 ai-r-
many also. Detailed in:'orr:iation on this method,
which had so far been practiced only in Czecho-
slovakia and iiun; ary, nas given in tt,:o ror.cicr
reports. (77) (8). The required axles are apparant-,
ly still delivered b . Cze~'.,cho slow;.kia whicla? has de-
veloped the modern method of oonver si.on and oeoraa
to have a patent for the manufacture of such axles
(2) 'orrnze:nt; The r ethod of shi t3 t the wheels by
:.aarta 3;9r s (pera 2c (3)) is new but credible.
This device vt,ich is based on operations by hand
does not require stftionary hydraulic plants as
previously reported for wahoxay. (8) . T'hic rrtothod
offers great advan,ta{;es in the event of vfai when
.the a nplieation of the most Ample raeans is essential
. and the conversion of cars may be necessary at
any tre.nsfer point. ,rorm this point of view the
reported Brie of clamps racy be considered as a dis-
tinct a.dv-:r to e over the previously reporters pro-
cedure.
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(33 Comment`; For the. conversion from European
o ,ova e gauge the clamps are applied to both
arms (sketch C of Annex). ~i clamp holding the
two i.-.,heels is used for the conversion to uro-
peen gauge (sketch 13 of Ar'n.ex~ a It is believed
that two such clarips must be used to prevent a
one-sided traction which r...i:-;ht lead to a dis-
to:ted position of the ~fhE :ls ,
(4)
ME C0=11ezat a
Contrary to the ob:: orvv,.t i. )n ac cording
to nth .ch no stops, catcher ............
... devices
are z?equim cad to hold the i.rheel: in their re-
Spec;tive positions, it: is t E ieved that a wedging
of the wheels is zaecessaryY to guarantee a fixed
position (8 F , ithout ti uch wedging the wheels
zvrould be subject to d ang? tons vibrations.
(5) -Corament ; special.
evMde9_'75xfl h conversia. n. to both gauges are
probably also required fir the brake rods. They
would halve to guarantee .'ull contact of the brake
blocks and thus their full effectiveness in every,
position of the wheels,, such a device was pro-
vided for in both the obsolete procedure of an
exchange of wheels and the modern method which
consiat,s a a shifting of the wheels. Tb're
is no reason why this device should have been given
up in this design and the brake effect should be
reduced accordingly.
(6) Comment: Confirmatory information is
0 u? re as To whether the convertible cars built
req
vmmendor f and Dessau (tiara 3,;. are built on
in
the described method.
CONFIDENTIAL
Approved For Release 2001/03/05: CIA-RDP82-00457R005400300008-5