1930년대에는 만주사변이라고 하는 중일전쟁으로 기름이 부족하여 목탄차가 운행되었다는데, 강릉에서 서울을 가는 길이 당일로는 불가능했으며, 원주에서 하룻밤을 묵고 다음날도 종일이 걸려 도착하였다고 한다.
In the 1930s, a charcoal car was operated due to lack of oil caused by the Sino-Japanese War which was also called as Manchurian Incident, and it was impossible to reach Seoul from Gangneung within a day and even after spending a day at Wonju, it took a whole next day to arrive.