For the sake of our train-obsessed boy, we continued the search for trains on an island that doesn’t have a railway. On the other side of the Troodos Mountains we found the Cyprus Railways Museum, celebrating the island’s very brief railway history 50 years ago. Goobie was thrilled – despite it not actually having a train.

When we told Goobie that we were moving to Cyprus, his first question was ‘Are there any trains?’ His passion for trains has lasted half of his 4 year-old life. He can tell you all the engine names and numbers of every train at the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway. He can tell you the difference between a tank and a tender engine.  And Thomas the Tank Engine? Unless you have a spare 2 hours, let’s not even go there.

So to tell him that there aren’t trains in Cyprus is even more serious than if we were to tell him that Santa doesn’t exist.

His reaction was surprising.

He completely refused to believe us.

And Goobie was right. Obviously.

His unflinching optimism was infectious. Matt and I started to doubt what we had been told and we did some digging. It turns out that Cyprus did used to have a railway, stretching 76 miles from Famagusta through various stations to Nicosia, Morphou and ending in Evrychou. The Cyprus Government Railway opened in 1905 and as well as carrying passengers it also carried freight from the port of Famagusta and from the mines, timber from the Troodos Mountains, and mail. Unfortunately for Goobie, it closed in 1951 for financial reasons.

So, to continue our quest to find trains in Cyprus, we took Goobie to The Cyprus Railways Museum in Evrychou. It sits all by itself in a little valley a few kilometres past Galata. When we drove up and saw just one building and an engine shed, I worried Goobie would be disappointed.

Far from it!

The building was the original station, lovingly restored with dark green window shutters and a bright red Royal Mail postbox outside, an echo of its colonial past. Inside houses the smart exhibition, over two floors, full of black and white photos, models of the trains and artefacts from the railways. Goobie loved it, particularly identifying the different engines and reading their names and numbers. A friendly guide pointed out anything we might have missed. He didn’t speak English and we don’t speak Greek, but it didn’t matter because his enthusiasm said enough.

Outside, everything spelled of roses from the well-tended little garden. Goobie only had eyes for the railway track and he enjoyed walking over the sleepers. The highlight for him was the points lever (I’m sure it has a proper name, but I haven’t a clue what it is!) where he could change the points. We spent FOREVER changing the points! Back and forth, back and forth. And when Goobie got tired, he told us it was my turn, then Matt’s. It was a nice feature and not something Gabriel had ever got to do at the steam railways in the UK.

The track led to an engine shed which housed a little mail wagon that we were allowed to look in.  Apparently it had sat abandoned in someone’s garden for years until it was restored and brought to the museum. It wasn’t an engine, but Gabriel loved it anyway.

And that sums up the Cyprus Railways Museum really – LOVE. Yes, it was small and, no, it didn’t have an engine, but that didn’t matter. What you felt when you walked around it was the absolute love and devotion with which it had been restored and put together. By fellow train enthusiasts – adult versions of Goobie.