CYPRUS RAILWAY MUSEUM

This national museum (Μουσείο Κυπριακού Σιδηροδρόμου/Mousio Kypriakou Sidirodromou, Cyprus Railways Museum) was founded in 2013 in the former Evrychou railway station, which operated from 1915 to 1932. It traces the somewhat forgotten history of the Cyprus Government Railway (Κυπριακός Κυβερνητικός Σιδηρόδρομος/Kypriakos Kyvernitikos Sidirodromos, Cyprus Government Railway). Established by the British, Cyprus Railways operated from 1905 to 1951. Its network comprised a single 122-km narrow-gauge line (762 mm gauge) linking the port of Famagusta to Evrychou, via Nicosia and Morfou. With 12 locomotives, 17 passenger wagons and around 100 freight wagons, it was mainly used to transport timber and ores from the Troodos. After 1951, the line continued to be operated by the Cyprus Mines Corporation until the capture of Famagusta by the Turkish army in 1974. The station houses a permanent exhibition featuring objects, photos and documents from the period, as well as reconstructions of the lives of the company's 200 employees. Outside, a section of track has been recreated, and a shelter features a wagon and a pump-operated dray used for track maintenance. In addition, three former English Nasmyth Wilson locomotives can be seen in the northern zone: two well-maintained ones in Famagusta and Morfou/Güzelyurt, and a derelict one in the coastal village of Xeros/Denizli, 8 km north of Lefka/Lefke.