Cyprus Government Railway
| Cyprus Government Railway | |
|---|---|
 Route
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| Route length: | 122 km |
| Gauge : | 762 mm ( narrow gauge ) |
The Cyprus Government Railway (CGR) was the state railway on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus .
history
The narrow-gauge railway existed from 1904 to December 1951, when Cyprus was under British rule. The track was 762 mm (2 ' 6 " ). The line ran from the port of Famagusta via Nicosia to the port of Morphou . A depot was in Famagusta. The last train to Famagusta left Nicosia on December 31, 1951.
Today, the lies Planum track partially in the UN - a buffer zone and through the ghost town Varoscha .
traffic
On the route from Famagusta to Nicosia (about 37.5 miles), the train stations were approximately two miles apart. The station names were written in English, Greek and Turkish. At a cruising speed of around 20 to 30 km / h, the journey took around two hours. There were two trains a day, the morning train left Famagusta at around 8.30 a.m. Another two hours had to be estimated for the 24 miles from Nicosia to Morphou. Until 1933 the route led to Evrychou , 75 miles from Famagusta.
The locomotives were heated with coal from England or Egypt, which was delivered to the port of Famagusta. The water for the radiators of the railcars had to be chemically treated in order to obtain a suitable degree of hardness . The locomotive and wagons were illuminated with gas lamps . A major problem was the ongoing maintenance of the bridges , as the rivers, which are dry in summer, turn into torrential rivers in winter and damage the bridges.
The CGR was built mainly for freight transport. The Mining Association of Cyprus had copper and chrome ore and asbestos brought to the port of Famagusta by rail . From 1945, the trains faced competition from trucks . The road haulage meant the end of the railroad. Equipment, tracks and wagons were worn out after 40 years of operation. Rumor has it that the railroad was profitable, and the automaker Ford is said to have shut down the railroad in order to increase vehicle sales.
Calls
The steam locomotive No. 1 ( Hunslet 0-6-0 ) was mostly used in the shunting service in Famagusta and on the port area there due to the low stocks. The steam locomotive No. 22 ( Nasmyth Wilson 2-6-0 ) was used in mixed operation. During the Second World War the locomotive was equipped with an oil burner. The tank locomotives from Kitson & Co. were mainly used on the steeper sections of the route in the Troodos Mountains .
From 1934 a 12-seat rail bus with a four-cylinder carburetor engine from Ford was used, which operated with the 16-seat trailer No. 2.
Today's remains
The Famagusta station building is used as an office building for the land registry. The workshop building of the depot was still there, but unused. In Morphou, the train station is used as a private residence, the goods shed as a car repair shop.
The Evrychou station building was restored in 2006. A railway museum has been set up at the station, which was closed in 1933 and located in the Republic of Cyprus .
The steam locomotive Hunslet 0-6-0 No. 1 in Famagusta is a memorial . It was externally restored in 1972. Car No. 152 was in very good condition in 2004 as an exhibit in the Laiki Cultural Center .
Vehicles still known
Steam locomotives
- No. 1 - Hunslet 0–6–0 (846/1904)
- No. 12 - Nasmyth Wilson 4-4-0
- No. 22 - Nasmyth Wilson 2–6–0 (built in 1904)
- No. 41 - Kitson 4-8-4 tank locomotive
Diesel vehicles
- B - Inspection vehicle, Drewry (built in 1932), 5 seats, with an air-cooled 8 HP motorcycle engine, body built in Cyprus
- G - rail bus, Wickham (built in 1934), 12 seats
- No. 2 - Rail bus sidecar (built in 1934), 16 seats
dare
- No. 16 Third Class Wagon - Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works (built in 1920)
- No. 17 - Third Class Wagon - Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works (built in 1920)
- No. 149 - freight car, closed
- No. 150 - cattle transport wagon
- No. 151 - cattle transport wagon
- No. 152 - brake van
- No. 192 - water transport car
- No. 193 - water transport car
literature
- The Story of the Cyprus Government Railway by BS Turner; Mechanical Engineering Publications; LONDON 1979
- Famagusta & Salamis, A Guide Book by William Dreghorn, B. Sc., Ph. D., London
- The Cyprus Government Railway (1905–1951) by Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra; Nicosia, 2006
Web links
- History of CGR (English) ( Memento of 17 April 2003 at the Internet Archive )
- Images of the railways of Cyprus
- The railways of Cyprus (English)
- Cyprus Government Railway (German)
Individual evidence
- ^ Department of Antiquities: Cyprus Railways Museum.
- ↑ Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός. In: evrychou.org.cy. May 12, 2004, accessed October 6, 2019 .