Soviet Standard Size Military Trains

[bf109 emil]

1. YW
2.in honesty i think the whole building of a different gauge IIRC to prevent just this or another army using worked to a point. But maybe more so better by poor construction then by a different width.

[Jon G.]

...which has absolutely no bearing on the standard size of Soviet military trains, as asked by the OP, and expounded by me.

I posted some data about Soviet railroads here http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 4#p1161344

[bf109 emil]

Jon...thanks for the link...

...which has absolutely no bearing on the standard size of Soviet military trains, as asked by the OP, and expounded by me.

yes, perhaps if possible you can split this thread to where discussion went array into a another thread perhaps titled... differences between Germany railways and Soviets or... difficulties of German railway upon Russian lines in WW2.

Thanks again for the Link (as i IMHO would not have located or sought to look in the lend lease thread it was posted within)
Jim Snowden (bf109 emil)

[bf109 emil]

an interesting site and might be enjoyed or viewed to anyone interested in pics...http://www.o5m6.de/RussianRail.html

[Jon G.]

Nice cartoonish drawings on that site. Note how high above track level the Soviet engines' boilers are. A high-placed boiler is usually considered a desirable quality in a steam engine, and the Soviets could build on that thanks to the greater loading gauge of their railroads.

[Art]

Standard loading of one rail car (2-axle, 16.5 ton) for troop transportation:

Cars outfitted for personnel or horse transport:
Men - 45
Horses - 8

Open platforms:
2-axle wagons (2-horse) - 6
1-axle cargo wagons - 8
1-axle ambulance wagons - 6
1-axle telephone wagons - 8
field kitchens - 6
45-mm guns - 6
76-mm guns mod. 1927, 1902/30 - 4
76-mm guns mod. 1936 - 2
76-mm antiaircraft guns - 2
76-mm anti-aircraft guns mod. 1931 on trucks - 1
76-mm mountain guns - 6
107-mm guns mod. 1910/30 - 2
122-mm howitzers mod. 1910/30 - 4
122-mm guns mod. 1931 - 1
152-mm mortars (?) - 3
152-mm gun-howitzer - 1
203-mm howtizer - 1
Ammunition caissons:
45-mm - 8
76-mm - 6
107-mm and 152-mm - 3

Tractors:
ChTZ-65, "Komintern", "Kommunar", "Voroshilovets" - 1
ChTZ-60, STZ-3, STZ-5 - 2

Trucks - 3 per 2 platforms
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=454366521

Or another variant:

Personnel - 36 per one boxcar
Horses - 6 artillery or 8 train horses
6 45-mm, 4 76-mm regimental, 2 76-mm divisional guns, 1 122-mm howitzer mod. 38 per an open platform
GAZ and ZIS trucks - 3 per 2 platforms
cars - 1
STZ tractors - 2
tractor trailers - 2
horse-drawn wagons - 6
field kitchen - 2 operating or 3 non-operating kitchens per a boxcar
ammunition - 16.5 tons
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=114383735

[Yuri]

Yes, some very good information, thank you.

I did not know about the number of axles making up a train (120 axles = one train).

Also, In all the pictures I have see of Soviet trains during the war, they are all being pulled by one steam engine. At least this would work on flat ground, with more being added for hills, I think.

The directive by Vaslievsky is great! I really enjoy seeing these original documents.

I was reading a Voyenno-Istoricheskiy Zhurnal article #3 March 1986 titled "Maneuvering of Strategic Reserves in the First Period of the Great Patriotic War". The article gives some good information about the use if trains to move troops and the total number of train needed. It states a Rifle Division needed 16-18 trains and a Cavalry Division 13-14, but I'm not sure the date for these values, maybe late 1941. So this supports the lower number of trains for units as the units themselves became smaller.

Dann

It took 13 echelons to transport the 333rd Rifle Division in October 1942 from the Orenburg Region (Southern Urals) to the 66th Army area (Don Front, north of Stalingrad).
The number of the division is about 10,600 people.
(According to an entry from the Combat Log of this division).

P.S. During the war, the city of Orenburg was called Chkalov.
First of all, the length of the train was limited by the length of the railway line at railway travels and stations.