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The CGR was a 2ft 6in-gauge line with a total route mileage of 78 miles, the first 37 from Famagusta to Nicosia were begun in April 1904 and opened in October 1905. By December 1907 an extension to Morphou 27 miles west of Nicosia had been completed. In June 1915 a further extension of 14 miles to Evrykhou was completed allowing development of the copper mines at Skouriotissa. Later ore was shipped via a 4-mile branch line constructed from Pendayia to a new jetty at Karavostassi completed in 1920.
The headquarters and railway offices
were situated at Famagusta. According to an article printed in the
Railway Magazine in 1941 the railway had 45 locomotives, this is
incorrect, the actual locomotive stock was as follows: - Only one steam locomotive survived the closure when all the remaining locomotives and coaching stock were broken up, that was No1, left by the contractor during construction of the line, and restored by 48 Command Workshops of the British Army and placed on a plinth at the site of the former Famagusta station. (Shown above.) The railway's career as a mail carrier began immediately upon the opening of the Famagusta-Nicosia section, when the government issued a statement that, "the road should be allowed to fall into disrepair". A number of Station Masters were paid an annual grant to act as sub-post-masters. Cyprus 1353-1986 by Wilfrid.T.F.Castle classifies the various hand stamps used to cancel mail as follows: -
Type 37 - despatched on 7th December
1908 and thought to have been used between Famagusta and Nicosia. There
were three handstamps in the batch numbered 2, 3 and 4. There are known
forgeries of this design numbered 1, 3 and 4. There is no Type 38 - this number was allocated to a design subsequently found to be a forgery.
Type 39A - similar to Type 39 but a single circle lettered CGR at the top and Famagusta below. Recorded uses have been found at both Famagusta and Angastina. Type 40 - a batch of four hand stamps
for use at Famagusta, Angastina, Trakhoni, and Kalokhorio. They were
similar to the hand stamps issued to Rural Postal Agencies. Dates of
issue unknown. Type 42 - similar to Type 39 but
lettered RPO PRASTIO, RPO KALOKHORIO, and RPO EVRYKHOU. Dates of issue
unknown. The railway did not operate any travelling post offices, the use and location of the various issued hand stamps may never be fully known or understood, as previously stated all records were destroyed. Mail with RPO hand stamps are rare items hence the difficulty of research, however the railway historians should beware, there are a number of very suspicious items, with cancels that are just a little too good to be true. Any CGR cancels on cover definitely need Certificates of Authenticity - you have been warned. The railway closed the section between Kalokhorio and Evrykhou in 1932, and withdrew both mail and passenger services west of Nicosia at the same time. The station at Kalokhorio still continued to be the village post office, and was serviced by road. The last train on the CGR was the 2.55 p.m. from Nicosia to Famagusta on 31st December 1951. Simultaneously the Railway Post Office Service was closed down with all equipment collected and withdrawn. The post box on Famagusta Station remained for some time, and continued to display the times of posting until finally removed. During its less than 50 year span as a postal service provider and transporter of mail, the CGR was never given any publicity philatelically apart from the use of its postal hand stamps, still a source of mystery even today. It may therefore seem strange that the postal service of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) should decide to commemorate the railway on 31st December 1986 some 35 years after its closure. Two stamps and a maxi card were
produced, plus a special cancel.
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An
Imperial Airways route test letter may seem like an odd method of
introducing the Cyprus Government Railway (CGR), however both
organisations were unique in being postal carriers and Post Offices in
their own right. One of the express purposes of the construction of the
CGR was to carry, collect and distribute mail.
Type
32 - A set of brass cancels numbered 1 to 6 inclusive as shown left.
These were once classified as railway cancels and originally thought to
have been supplied for a projected line from Larnaca to Nicosia. They
have been found used in widely scattered locations well away from the
railway, it is now known that they had little or nothing to do with the
railway although their exact use is still a mystery. (Examples of both 1
and 3 are regarded as extremely rare.)
Type
33 - Despatched on 4th October 1905 after commencement of running on the
7th August and just prior to the official opening on 21st October. They
would not have arrived by the time of the official opening. Could the
type 32 hand stamps have been used during the intervening period? The
records of the railway were lost in a disastrous fire in 1923 and as the
amount of postal history with RPO cancels is very small, it has not been
possible to build a history of usage.
Type
34 - A batch of four hand stamps dispatched on 26th October 1906 they
carried the numbers 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Type
35 - A single example stated by Chris Cruttwell to have been used at
Famagusta. The proof book example is dated 26th October 1906 the same as
type 34
Type
39 - There is no known date of introduction for this series consisting
of four stamps lettered A, B, C, and D. Use of the hand stamp lettered A
is stated to be rare.
Type
41 - similar to Type 40 but lettered RAILWAY STATION above NICOSIA
CYPRUS. Dates of issue unknown.
