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Not many comments yet on the article itself, which I thougt was techically interesting. Some TL;DR points are: The Russian network was techically primitive but
by KineticLensman 8y ago
Not many comments yet on the article itself, which I thougt was techically interesting. Some TL;DR points are:
The Russian network was techically primitive but had higher traffic capacity (e.g. because manual signalling and slow trains meant collisions were unlikely
Russian central logistics planning meant that there was less non-essential traffic.
The Russian net was run according to rules developed by railway specialists. In contrast, the Wehrmacht had multiple competing managers, including some military officers who made decisions (e.g. commandeering trains) that degraded overall network efficiency
It was easier for the Russians to repair their own damaged railways than for the Germans to bring captured networks to their own higher standards
- jcranmer 8y agoI haven't read the article yet, but one of the things that does stand out is that Germany (and Europe) used 1435mm track, whereas Russia used 1520mm track. This would have caused a major break of gauge in Poland, which would have been one of the causes of supplies desperately needed for front-line troops (such as winter coats) getting stuck in Poland. The German military in WWII did not distinguish itself with good command of logistics.
- ajuc 8y agoGermany modified most of tracks in Poland from 1520 mm to 1435 mm in 1915 for military purposes. Poland continued to modify the remaining tracks slowly after it regained independence in 1918 till 1939.
- lostlogin 8y agoThe other intersting comment in the article related to the possible loading of Russian trains. The less confined operating areas meant loads could be wider.
- tetromino_ 8y agoBoth wider and taller! The most common Russian T loading gauge is 3.75 meters wide, 5.3 meters high. Compare to Germany's traditional G2 gauge: only 3.15 meters wide by 4.65 meters high, and that height is with a sloping roof profile. (And the German gauge is quite generous compared to some other Western European countries; for much of the British network, the loading gauge is much smaller.)