German Railways in the East
Re: German Railways in the East
To be clear, I have the five pamphlets I posted above. Picked them up several years ago looking for info on the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
Re: German Railways in the East
Emil Beck - short term Ostbahn president as he appeared on front page of official news bulletin. There are some better quality photos of him at Alamy, but not this particular photo shot.
Also here by the Deblin bridge: viewtopic.php?p=1876160#p1876160 on the left.
Also here by the Deblin bridge: viewtopic.php?p=1876160#p1876160 on the left.
Re: German Railways in the East
It’s interesting how significant the Bialystok-Brest-Lublin area was for Germany “through lines” which it had upgraded to bridge the infrastructure gap in 1940-42 - only East Prussia compared. Occupying all these lines up to the Vistula during the Lublin-Brest operation gave the Red Army complete control of the main rail artery running straight through Poland to Germany proper.Der Alte Fritz wrote: ↑02 Jan 2014, 11:09Bridges over the Vistula
P-048 Appendix 4 Bridges over the Vistula.jpg
"German Through Railway Lines early 1942 before the Oastbau Programmes.
P-048 Appendix 5 Railway situation 1942 hi-contrast.jpg
A couple of things to note about this map.
1) Two of the previously seen trunk lines on the other maps are now missing. I assume that the Purple line XII is still in use but serving East Prussia and so was missed off the edge of the map. The Cerise line IX is missing and I presume no longer regarded as a viable route.
2) The capacity gained in Appendix 3 Otto Programme is not shown in its entirety on this map. The Dark Blue line VI shows an end capacity of 18 not the 24 in the Otto map and the Green line VII shows 30-36 for most of its length rather than the 60 up to Deblin and then 36. Also Line VI now has two other entry points, one from the Green line VII at Brest and another from the Orange line IV at Lemburg (Lvov). This latter line would now be under Roumanian control and although able to be used by the Germans, they had less influence than before. The assumption is that capacity totals 366 trains a day in each direction.
German Through Railway Lines 1944
P-048 Appendix 8 Capacities in 1944 hi-contrast.jpg
Some of these capacities seem too high, for instance around Lemburg I have seen other maps giving figures of around 60 trains a day not the 72 mentioned.
With the Warsaw Uprising and Second Army getting shoved up near the border with East Prussia, the Red Army actually got to sit on the prime railway real estate while Second Army had to run its supplies over the Narew throughout August. Historically this area had poor rail and road infrastructure even on the East Prussian side of the border, which hadn’t changed much by 1944.
Though Lublin-Brest shoved the Germans close to the borders of East Prussia, its capture of their main rail supply routes put them in a logistically worse position.
About to start going through NARA T312 R1327-29, 2nd Army’s quartermaster materials for July-September 1944. Didn’t find much in Army Group Center’s materials so far.
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Re: German Railways in the East
This photo from Lodz, 1939 might be of interest to the thread. Showing Reichsminister Dorpmuller (2nd from Left) Emil Beck, then President of the Ostbahn (centre) with 2 Generalgouvernment/Diplomat officials on right:
The above sign says 'Transport _____ Lodz'
close ups :
viewtopic.php?p=2414830#p2414830
The above sign says 'Transport _____ Lodz'
close ups :
viewtopic.php?p=2414830#p2414830
Re: German Railways in the East
Google 2011 photo of the place.
Eisenbahndirektion Lodz was established there on 27th of September 1939 with Emil Beck as president.
Reich Minister for Transport Dorpmüller visit was on October 22nd, 1939.
On the October 26th, Eisenbahndirektion Lodz was converted to Generaldirektion der Ostbahn and moved to Krakau/Kraków.
Eisenbahndirektion Lodz was established there on 27th of September 1939 with Emil Beck as president.
Reich Minister for Transport Dorpmüller visit was on October 22nd, 1939.
On the October 26th, Eisenbahndirektion Lodz was converted to Generaldirektion der Ostbahn and moved to Krakau/Kraków.
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Re: German Railways in the East
Thanks a lot for the extra information on that.
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Re: German Railways in the East
BUt am I still right that we have failed so far to find the archive containing the materials on Generaldirektion der Ostbahn?
Soviet Railways
Does anyone have any information on when the following Rail lines were completed:
Tamam to Krimsk: The earliest I have found is a Soviet situation map dated Dec 1943 and I suspect it was built for the retaking of the Crimea.
Adler to Sukham along the Black Sea coast: I have a source that just lists 1942.
Baschagovskaya to Cherninsk (connecting Astrakhan to Caucasus): There is anecdotal evidence (from a German patrol) that this line was carrying oil as early as 15 Sep 42.
Thanks,
Wig
Tamam to Krimsk: The earliest I have found is a Soviet situation map dated Dec 1943 and I suspect it was built for the retaking of the Crimea.
Adler to Sukham along the Black Sea coast: I have a source that just lists 1942.
Baschagovskaya to Cherninsk (connecting Astrakhan to Caucasus): There is anecdotal evidence (from a German patrol) that this line was carrying oil as early as 15 Sep 42.
Thanks,
Wig
Re: German Railways in the East
The main source of information about Adler-Sukhumi rail link seems to be: Afanasyev, Construction of the Armavir-Tuapse and Black Sea railways, 1968. There is also quite good CIA report from mid-1948.Adler to Sukham along the Black Sea coast
Section Adler-Garga was completed in July 1941.
On section Garga-Sukhumi only some temporary tracks were laid allowing limited military traffic from late 1942.
Because several bridges and tunnels had to be built, sub-section Garga-Bzyb was only completed in 1943 and sub-section Bzyb-Sukhumi in 1945. The whole Adler-Sukhumi link was not ready for full civilian traffic until 1949.
Re: German Railways in the East
Thanks Greg! This confirms some additional data I found about Garga-Bzyb in 1943 and Bzyb-Sukhumi in 1945. I also found a 1941 situation map that shows the line extending a few km north of Sukhumi so they must have at least started building north before the war.
Wig
Wig
Re: German Railways in the East
From what year is the graph?Der Alte Fritz wrote: ↑20 Nov 2013, 09:06My understanding is that he would have been part of the Reich Ministry of Transport and Ministerialdirigent Dr. Josef Müller as the Eastern Railways were not part of the DRB and not part of the Heer either. However both Dorpmuller and Ganzenmüller held both Ministry of Transport and DRB posts at the same time (Ganzenmüller - Staatssekretär des Reichsverkehrsministeriums und stellvertretenden Generaldirektor der Reichsbahn.) so Müller was probably the same with the title Ministerialdirektor der Reichsbahn
There is this diagram from FMS D-139 Transportation in Russia - the original colouration has been lost but I have replaced it with what I think correct. The red lines show the civilian chain of command from Warsaw to the HBDs (marked Operating Divisions) and their mirrors in the military chain of command.
Page 45.jpg
https://wwii.germandocsinrussia.org/de/ ... ect/zoom/6
is another view from probably early 1942 on the mess that was the German Railsystem in the East post invasion. The sections on the (lack of) organisational and material preparation are particularly interesting.
Any idea who might have authored the report? Certainly nobody near Gerck is involved given what is said about him and his staff. Could it be Reichsbahn?
Etra Ost at the time and their views that are reflected in this report would be:
https://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/inde ... leitungen/
Hauptmann i.G. Christoph-Friedrich von Derschau 15.03. bis 01.09.1941
Kdr. Generalmajor Werner Goeritz, 16.08.1941 - 09.02.1942, Sonderbeauftragter
Re: German Railways in the East
https://wwii.germandocsinrussia.org/de/ ... rip/zoom/6
pages 99-105
Presentation of Commander Eis.Pi.Rgt 1 for Heeresgruppe B from 4th May 1941.
https://wwii.germandocsinrussia.org/de/ ... ect/zoom/6
pages 84-90
As above but from 8th June 1941.
pages 99-105
Presentation of Commander Eis.Pi.Rgt 1 for Heeresgruppe B from 4th May 1941.
https://wwii.germandocsinrussia.org/de/ ... ect/zoom/6
pages 84-90
As above but from 8th June 1941.