Goobie – a boy with a passion for trains. Cyprus – an island without a railway. But Goobie is stubborn and Cyprus has a rich history, including it turns out, a history of locomotives. Since arriving on the island last year we have been looking for trains and remnants of old railways.

The Cyprus Government Railway was open from 1905 to 1951 and ran from Evrychou in the west to Famagusta in the east, before closing for financial reasons.  The Cyprus Mining Corporation (CMC) also used trains to transport ore from the mines to the ports. We learnt more about Cyprus’s locomotive history during our trip to the Cyprus Railways Museum in Evrychou last year.

So far, Goobie has found four trains in Cyprus – and has given them all names. The first one was ‘The Alice Express’, a mine train found in a children’s playground on the way into Kalavasos, near Larnaca.

Next there was ‘Mr No. 1 Train’, a Cyprus Government Railway engine, found outside Famagusta’s old train station.

In November, he found ‘Port-Yet’ or CMC 5, a mine train, outside Lefka (Lefke) in Northern Cyprus.

This weekend, he found his fourth train sitting on a little hill half way between Nicosia and Kyrenia. It’s on the right-hand side of the main road that goes to Kyrenia – you can’t miss it. It’s another yellow CMC mine train, much like Port-Yet, called CMC 1. Goobie called it Michelangelo, ‘like the Ginger Turtles, Mummy.’

Inside the cab are the original levers, which Goobie tried out. He started a game called ‘Let’s Jump on the Train to Escape the Crocodile’. Matt and I did the jumping and Goobie blew the whistle. I think that game lasted forever. Approximately. But Goobie was overjoyed with the new engine and I’m sure we’ll be stopping to say hello every time we go to Kyrenia.

I wonder how many more trains are out there for Goobie to find?