In September 1920 , construction of the tunnels necessary for the pumped-storage system for the hydroelectric dams began , in June 1921 construction of the dams began , and in September 1921 construction of the railway was launched . Although the line was initially planned to be built to the cape gauge in standard use in Japan , under Furukawa 's guidance it was changed to standard gauge in 1921 to allow for direct interchange with Sentetsu . In 1923 the first phase of construction of the railway and the hydropower stations was completed , and the opening of the line for revenue operation was scheduled for November 1923 . However , the Great Kantō earthquake of that year destroyed the electric generators for the trains which had been ordered from Shibaura Manufacturing in Tokyo , setting the plans back . To compensate , steam locomotives and passenger coaches were borrowed from the South Manchuria Railway , and with these , revenue service was started on the section from Ch ' ŏrwŏn and Kimhwa on 1 August 1924 . Electrification of the line was completed in October , and operation of electric trains commenced on 27 October of that year , with both steam and electric trains running until 1 January 1925
Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
Kumgangsan Electric Railway