Most university students find buses and trains essential factors in their trips since not many own cars. Some adults also enjoy taking a trip by train, because driving is sometimes long and tiresome. For these reasons, KORAIL, or the Korean Railway, has special offers on train trips. Here are two famous and interesting trains for traveling: the O-train and the V-train. Their greatest advantage is that they provide people with seasonal views of canyons and mountains around various provinces in Korea. The O-train and the V-train visit many regions, including Cheoram in Taebaek city, which was famous during the 1980s as a coal mining city. They also visit various stations each with their own special features.
The O-train visits various stations such as Jecheon, Yeongwol, Taebaek and Cheoram, which is no longer a well-known region. Cheoram station is the eigth station from Seoul and it takes about four hours and 15 minutes to get there. Cheoram used to be famous for its coal mining, so many people moved to Cheoram to earn money. At that time, Cheoram was a lively place full of miners, their families and merchants. Moreover, people living in Cheoram were quite prosperous because of the coal mining. According to an old story, even dogs living in Cheoram had 10,000 won paper money in their mouths. However, as the usage of coal decreased, people left the city. Coal processing factories still exist today, but few people remain in the city since the increase in use of energy generated from petroleum.
When the train stops at Cheoram station, there is an amazing view. It is like a black-and-white picture in an old film. White snow covers the peaks of the mountains around Cheoram, but where snow has melted on the lower parts of the mountains and the pedestrian road, it is almost black because of coal. The residents say mined coal gets divided by its fuel efficiency, and the coal with low efficiency was thrown down the mountainside. However, after people found out that soot is decreased when discarded (low efficient) coal is mixed and burned with highly efficient coal, they started to use thrown away coal. Unique to this region, pedestrian roads are made from a combination of concrete and discarded coal, which makes the roads an interesting shade of black that stays dark. In Cheoram, there is a special road with shops and houses from the past, so people can learn about the life of the miners as well as the bracket houses to explain how the region suddenly flourished.
The V-train visits 5 stations. It goes 30 kilometers per hour, which means it is slow enough to let riders appreciate nature. Since the O-train and the V-train visit places forgotten by many people, these train services have been giving new hope to these places. For example, one of the places the V-train visits is called Buncheon. The people there decorated their station and named it Santa’s Village, which has a mini sleigh park. Also Chujeon Station that the O-train visits is known as the highest station in Korea.
Many people like to see the snowcapped mountains and frozen rivers during winter. Many people want to see green mountains with rushing rivers during the summer. Take the O-train or the V-train and experience wonderful nature in all seasons. Without intense cold or heat, you might like a pleasant trip on one of these trains.
