Sources:
https://www.lunaparksydney.com/our-history
https://www.historyofsydney.com.au/luna-park-behind-the-smile/
https://the-line-up.com/sydney-ghost-train-fire?amp=1
https://waverley.nsw.edu.au/conversations/luna-park-tragedy-exposed-with-second-inquiry-possible/
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/luna-park-tragedy-36th-anniversary-of-the-fire-that-killed-seven-riders-on-the-ghost-train-in-1979/news-story/6e70f4ea61959d1d393ce597da253c78
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/12224530
https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/documents/findings/1979/luna_park_fire_1977_-_findings.pdf
https://amp.smh.com.au/national/nsw/luna-park-fire-the-files-that-linked-a-sydney-underworld-figure-to-a-tragedy-20210312-p57a5a.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-24/the-untold-stories-about-luna-parks-ghost-train-fire/13259246
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/100128264
https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/essay/hellfire-richard-cooke/
Script:
An amusement park is typically a place where you go and have fun. You eat junk food, play games and win prizes, and go on rides and scream your head off. You usually don’t worry about anything other than running out of your allowance or losing your friends in the crowd.
But sometimes, tragedy can and does strike in these otherwise happy places. In this yarn, I’ll be talking about the Luna Park ghost train fire and the strange details surrounding it.
This yarn teeters onto true crime territory.
And I will have to warn you that this episode is rather grim and involves the deaths of children. If you find listening to this kind of content upsetting, feel free to skip this one and wait for the next yarn. Look after yourselves, please.
(Cue intro)
I’ll be honest with you. I’ve always thought that the huge face at the gates of Luna Park is creepy. Like, he’s eager to eat you up or something. And it’s kinda unsettling to look at it at night cause his eyes and teeth glow…Anyway, I digress.
There are currently two Luna Parks in Australia, one in Melbourne and the other in Sydney. Both have the creepy face greeting you right at the entrance. This story takes place in the latter city.
Luna Park in Sydney first opened its doors in 1935. After the success of Melbourne’s Luna Park, Sydney decided to open their own. This one was inspired by Coney Island in New York and the sister parks in Melbourne and Adelaide. However, the Luna Park in Adelaide had already closed down earlier in the year, and some of its rides were relocated to the new Sydney one. Anyway, as all amusement parks are, it’s a place where you spend time having a ball, and it’s always been that way.
Flash forward to 1979, specifically on Saturday, the 9th of June. We’ll focus on the Godsons, a young family. The Godson Family, made up of John and Jenny Godson, mum and dad to Damien, aged 6, and Craig, aged 4, decided to head out to Luna Park for a day of wholesome festivities.
Well into the evening, they were down to their last ride tickets, and the family decided to ride the Ghost Train. However, mum Jenny had a sudden craving for ice cream and asked the kids if they wanted some too. They answered no, so Jenny went off to go get ice cream while John, Damien, and Craig boarded the ride. What happened next shocked the nation.
At around 10.15 pm, the ghost train caught on fire. Rapidly, the flames grew larger and more uncontrollable, and within minutes, the family-friendly attraction had turned into a hellscape. Jenny could only watch in horror as fire engulfed the ride her family were on.
Firefighters rushed to the scene and fought hard to extinguish the flames, even pumping water out of the harbour to do so. Rescuers went and helped the people that were trapped on the ride. However, seven wouldn’t make it. Among them were John, Damien, and Craig. The other four victims were schoolboys that attended Waverley College together. Their names were Richard Carroll - aged 13, Jonathan Billings - 14, Seamus Rahilly - 14 , and Michael Johnson - also 14. They were all good friends and got given permission by all their parents to go there together on that fateful Saturday. It was the first time they were allowed to hang out without parental supervision.
John, Damien, and Craig Godson were survived by Jenny. Meanwhile, the group of Waverley College boys had a fifth friend that might have suffered the same fate. His name is Jason Holman. had he not been pulled out of his car by a panicked attendant, he may not have survived.
Although both Jenny and Jason were unharmed, the scars they live with are invisible and lifelong.
For Jason, he carries guilt in his conscience, often wondering why it was his life that was spared while his best friends were lost to the fire. And Jenny lives on with heartbreak; her dear husband and their two babies were cruelly taken from her all at once.
After this tragic disaster, a coroner’s inquest begun. The investigation revealed not so good things about the safety protocols of the park.
The ghost train’s construction materials were mostly timber, and the roof was built with wood and bitumen. In high heat, bitumen can catch fire. So it was a disaster waiting to happen. The ride was also in disrepair, with some holes in the roof and some of the studs that were meant to hold partitions were rotten and or loose. The walls in the structure were painted black, and doors and partitions were near impossible to see, even when lights were on.
In 1977, two years prior to the disaster, the ghost train was inspected by the North Sydney Municipal Council and the Fire Prevention Department of Fire Brigades. After the inspection, they recommended that there should be illuminated exit signs at the doors, install safety emergency lighting, add a fire hose reel system with sufficient length. They were also recommended to have drapings and curtains be treated with fire retardants twice a year. However, on the night of the fire, it appeared that these preventive measures weren’t in practice. The coroner’s report stated that it agreed that Luna Park failed to do these actions, compiling a list of what was meant to be done, but wasn’t. The following is a quote I directly lifted from the report, so here it is:
“There were two hoses from fire hydrants a t either end of the Ghost Train frontage, they were not long enough to deal effectively with this fire, one of them lacked a nozzle. I agree with Mr. Dunford, Counsel for the relatives, that some or all of the following precautions should have been taken and were not:
Provision of additional emergency exits.
Clear marking of all doors.
Provision of a smoke alarm system and a smoke exhaust system.
Provision of emergency lighting.
Provision of a hose reel system.
Provision of a sprinkler system.
Devising of an evacuation system and training of staff in its implementation,
Training of staff in use of fire fighting equipment.
Proper cleaning of the floor and exhibits.
Provision of adequate hoses to, the fire hydrants.
It is clear that if items 1 to 6 in that list were not provided, the Ghost Train should not have been operated in the absence of an attendant whose duty it was to patrol inside the building. The evidence shows for instance, that a number of passengers detected a smell of smoke, some five minutes or more before the fire was discovered but took no action thinking it might have been one of the Ghost Train's special effects.” Unquote.
Had there been illuminated exit lights, the people on the ride would have gone to them and escaped to safety. Also, you could imagine with the combination of thick smoke, poor lighting, and the dark painted walls, it would so hard to see anything. You’d be rendered just about blind in there. The ride was a rather old one and they probably wanted to preserve it as it is, but adding better fire escapes and systems wasn’t gonna tarnish it at all.
The cause of death for all the victims was carbon monoxide poisoning, likely from breathing in the smoke. They also suffered severe whole body burns. Because of the dangerous conditions of the ride with the dark walls and poorly marked doors, they all likely got trapped in the building while trying to run away because they couldn’t see where they were going.
But what actually caused the fire? The coroner guessed that one reason could be that someone possibly carelessly dropped a cigarette butt and litter caught on fire, but otherwise the definite cause couldn’t be determined. Even though smoking wasn’t allowed on the ride, it didn’t stop patrons from from sneaking smokes in and lighting up. However, some people believe that something more sinister was at play.
They believe that the fire was deliberately lit, and the individual responsible was likely Abe Saffron, an underbelly crime figure that was active around this time. It’s alleged that Saffron was behind numerous other fires in Sydney, and the purpose of the arsons was for power. Apparently, he wanted control of Luna Park after the fire. Witnesses also saw some shady looking people hanging around Luna Park that night. They were described to look like typical bikies, wearing leather or denim jackets, jeans and knee-high motorcycle boots. They had long hair and beards. They were drinking beer and were apparently talking about kerosene and lighting a fire. This corroborates with another witness smelling kerosene in the area as the ride was ablaze.
The officer in charge of the investigation was apparently corrupt and destroyed evidence and ignored significant witness testimonies, doubling down on an electrical fault being the cause of the fire, prior to the coroner’s report. Additionally, witnesses were also pressured to either withdraw or change their testimonies out of fear that crooks would be out to get them, or the police actually encouraged them to do so; maybe because they had made up their own narrative about what happened.
After the fire, Luna Park shut its gates to the public until 1982. Then following unsuccessful plans of rebranding as an adult entertainment centre, and as well as multiple closures due to leases falling through during the 80s and 90s, the park made a successful comeback in the early 2000s. Luna Park became its own business entity in 2002, and gained a 40 year lease. They worked to rebuild and refurbish rides and restore the park to its former glory. Today, it’s still a a popular place to visit, and aims to become even bigger and better. But, that didn’t mean that they’d erase the memories of the ghost train tragedy. In 2004, a memorial plaque was placed in the spot where the ghost train once stood, bearing the names of the victims. There is also a monument dedicated to them as well, located in the Art Barton Park, and a memorial dedicated to the four schoolboys at Waverley College.
Whether it was by accident, negligence, or malicious actions, the destructive fire still claimed the lives of seven innocent people, and their deaths could’ve been prevented had the appropriate measures been taken by Luna Park personnel.
Now that we know what happened, let us go back in time prior to the tragedy. Before heading to Luna Park, the Godson family were at Circular Quay, waiting for the ferry to take them across to the amusement park. It was there that the very last picture of the boys was taken with a peculiar individual.
He was dressed in a strange costume; an animal print loincloth… a bit like Tarzan, and a creepy mask which looked like it was made with animal hide and had large horns. To some, this dude looked like a demon. Apparently, this guy came up to the family and put his hand on Damien Godson’s shoulder and asked if they wanted a picture with him, so they got one. Since there’s a lot of street performers and colourful events in downtown Sydney, I don’t think the family was all too fazed by the crazy looking dude. The man never came forward after the image got published in the paper, so his identity remains unknown.
But then, an urban legend was born.
It appeared, to some people, that the stranger was an omen of some sort. It was a chilling coincidence that a satanic-looking figure was with the boys prior to their deaths. And you know what the imagery is right?: demons, hell, fire, etc. There were other rumours that this mysterious guy was an occultist or a Satanist that apparently cursed the family or sacrificed them or something like that. Internet sleuths and paranormal fanatics like ourselves can only speculate how the guy was related to the tragedy in any way. But there really is some ominous vibe about that photo though. And it’s also pretty weird that he went up to the boys specifically and asked them to take a photo. Though, we don’t know if he did this to other people at Circular Quay or elsewhere. But the timing of the photo was just too eerie to ignore though, so I guess you can’t really help but think that it’s just strangely connected in some way.
Another thing too. Remember how the mother, Jenny, suddenly had a craving for ice cream prior to her family going on the ride? Well it turned that she had never really been keen on ice cream and didn’t eat it often. It was on that night she just had this unexpected craving for ice cream that she just couldn’t ignore, and it saved her life. It kind of sounds like her intuition or some sort of strange foresight was protecting her. We hear stories about guardian angels supposedly protecting people, or people making an out of character decision which ultimately steered them clear of death.
Much like Jenny herself, we’ll never really know why.
And that’s the end of the yarn. This one’s probably one of the most depressing and darkest episodes I’ve done, and probably will do. It’s just so mysterious, even the coroner couldn’t really determine the cause. But there are witnesses finally coming forward and people are wanting a new inquiry into the fire. It’s the most you can do for the people affected that are still alive today.
Look after yourselves always, and be kind. Rate, review, share. Recommend this podcast to your friends and family, and your dentist. As always, lock your doors and ignore the crocodile hiding in your garden. See you later!
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