Evening star., 1940-02-04
Soviet and Reich
Fitting Rail Stations
To Swap Freight
Germans Hope to Have
Nine in Operation to
Receive Vital Goods
By LOUIS p. LOCHNER,

BY LOUIS p. LOCHNER,
Associated Press Foreign Correspondent
BERLIN, Feb. 3.-Nine pairs OF
railway stations on the new Ger
man-Russian frontier will hum soon
with activity through the reloading
of Russian raw materials and Ger
man industrial goods from wide
to standard gauge freight cars, and
vice versa, if Nazi expectations are
fulfilled
These stations all are in what
until last September was Poland.
Their names are Szczepki, on the
German side, with corresponding
Augustow on the Russian; Prostken
on the German and Grajewo on
the Russian side; Maxim -Zaremba,
Platerow Siemiatytschi, Terespol-
Brest-Litovsk, Cholm- -Jagodzin, Bel
zee Rawafuskaja, Zurawica Pere-
myschl and Nowyzagorz-Salus
Under the plan agreed upon, Ger
man goods will be reloaded in sta
tions on the Soviet side after in
spection by Russian customs Off
cials. Soviet goods similarly will
be inspected in German frontier
terminals.
Soviet Widens Rails.
No sooner had the Germans and
Russians agreed on a demarcation
line in vanquished Poland than
Soviet railwaymen got busy moving
one rail 312 inches outward on each
of nine roadbeds from the old Soviet
frontier to the new demarcation
line, thereby converting the former
Polish tracks into wide-guage roads
suitable for Russian cars.
This required relatively little work
since the existing road bed as well
as the cross ties could be left intact.
This required merely that the spikes
be pulled, the rails lifted and moved
and the spikes nailed down anew.
The first direct line opened up
was that ending on the Russian
side at former Polish Brest-Litvosk
and on the German side at Terespol.
During the first 10 days of January
it was reported that more trains
passed over this line than during
the entire month of December. 1t
meant converting the stretch from
Brest-Litovsk to Stolpce, or approx
imately 160 miles of track, into wide
gauge.
Only in one section of the newly
acquired territory did the Russians
fail to widen the railway gauge,
That was through the section of
former Poland which connected
Germany via Przemsyl with Ger
nauti, Rumania.
Here by mutual agreement be-
tween Adolf Hitler and Joseph
Stain the line was left as it was
so that Germany could obtain
much-needed oil from Rumania
without reloading.
Nazis Appreciate Concession.
Freight cars can go from Berlin
over territory now Russian to Ru-
manian centers without a change.
Oil from Galicia, now in Russian
hands, can thus also be made avail
able to Germany without reloading.
This concession by the Russians was
especially appreciated because the
Danube, which normally carries the
main burden of traffic from Ru-
mania to Germany, is frozen over.
Rumania, now Germany's only
substantial source of foreign oil was
said by high Bucharest authority
last Thursday to have been told
by the German government that
1t must supply more oil to the Reich
Or Berlin would seek other meth
ods" of getting it.
This action, following by two days
British-French warning to Ru-
mania not to force British and
French companies operating in Ru-
mania to produce oil for shipment
to Germany, was believed to presage
an early showdown in the allied
German rivalry for Rumania's oil
resources.
OF the nine projected transfer
points along the German-Russian
frontier, ali but one already have
been opened to bring minerals, oil
and grain to Germany. The ninth
at Cholm- agodzin-must wait
until new bridge is built over the
Bug River.
Besides oil and grain, Germany
expects to obtain from Russia chiefly
paraffin, iron and manganese ores,
hemp. flax and other agricultural
products.
Russia's compensation will come
chiefly from Germany manufactured
goods, especially iron and steel arti-
cles. threads, twines, and precision
instruments of all sorts.
Under the German-Soviet trade
and credit treaty. German finished
goods up to 100000, 900 marks ($40,-
000,000) will be exchanged for Rus
sian natural products of all kinds.
AS both nations are at war with
third countries, neither Germany
nor Russia for years is likely to elec-
trify the lines to the nine respective
terminals. Neither is likely to build
a third, much less a fourth, track to
speed traffic.
The Russians, in fact, are reported
at present to have changed only one
track on each line in former Poland
to wide gauge. This means that
traffic for some time to come will be
rather thin. Nevertheless, daily
trains are said to arrive in these re-
loading stations, the average train
being made up of 40 freight cars
with a total capacity of 600 to 300
tons a train.
Every device known to German
propaganda is invoked to impress
the German people with the fact
that the allied blockade is rendered
ineffective through the German
Russian understanding.
Films Depict Story.
In newspapers and news reels
scenes are depicted of Russian work.
ers widening railways, German
workers shoveling grain from Soviet
cars into those of the Reich, traffic
experts from both countries meet