Luna Park Sydney opened on October 4, 1935, on the old bridge works site at Milsons Point, right at the north end of the Harbour Bridge. The entrance was a giant smiling face flanked by two Art Deco towers — now heritage-protected. Past the Face were the Crystal Palace concert hall, the Coney Island funhouse, a midway of classic rides, and the wooden Big Dipper coaster. After World War II it became a Sydney institution.
By the 1970s the park was falling apart. The original owners had sold in 1969, and the new corporate owners floated redevelopment ideas including a failed $50-million plan to replace Luna Park with high-rises. By 1975 the 20-year lease had expired. Luna Park kept the gates open week to week with no long-term security and no money going into the infrastructure.
A Fire Waiting to Happen
The Ghost Train had been there since opening day — a classic dark ride that moved small cars through a haunted-house maze. The building was mostly timber: wooden walls and plywood partitions under a corrugated-iron roof sealed with tar. By the late 1970s it was a fire trap. In 1977 a fire-safety inspector walked the ride and described narrow black corridors, no lighting, no exit signs, and escape doors so poorly marked that no one in a panic would ever find them. No sprinklers. No hose reel. The NSW Fire Brigade listed ten required fixes. By June 1979, key items were still undone.
Cracker Night
Saturday, June 9, 1979 — Sydney’s annual Cracker Night — brought large crowds to Luna Park. Four Waverley College friends, all 13 years old, lined up for the Ghost Train together: Richard Carroll, Jonathan Billings, Michael Johnson, and Seamus Rahilly. Their friend Jason Holman was pulled from the next car by an attendant just before it entered the ride. Elsewhere, six-year-old Damien Godson and his four-year-old brother Craig begged their dad for one last ride. Their mother, Jenny, stepped away to buy ice cream.
Around 10:15 p.m., patrons and staff smelled smoke. Some assumed it was a special effect. Then thick black smoke poured from the tunnel doors. Within minutes the entire ride was engulfed. The park’s hoses had terrible water pressure. Firefighters had to pull water from the harbour. After about an hour the fire was brought under control.
At first there was hope everyone got out. Then, around 11:30 p.m., they found seven bodies huddled near a side door deep inside the ride. John Godson was found with his two sons in his arms. A few yards away lay the four Waverley College boys. They had left their stalled cars and tried to run, but became disoriented in the smoke and darkness. Fire officials said their chance of survival once they set out on foot in that maze was “zero.” Jenny Godson learned her entire family had died. Jason Holman stood at the police line in shock.
The Inquest
The NSW coroner concluded the cause was “not conclusively determinable.” An electrical fault was unlikely because the ride’s wiring was shut off. The most probable ignition, he said, was a stray spark from a cigarette or match. His report was scathing about management’s failure to address known fire hazards, but he stopped short of recommending criminal charges.
The Arson Theory
In the decades that followed, the official story was always questioned. In 2007, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the niece of Sydney crime boss Abe Saffron claimed he ordered the fire to take control of Luna Park’s lease and clear the way for redevelopment, adding that he “never intended to kill anyone.” She quickly retracted the statements. Saffron, who died in 2006, always denied involvement.
In 2021, an ABC investigative series called Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire found witnesses who had never been interviewed in 1979. Multiple people described suspicious men near the ride just before the fire. One witness recounted hearing one of them say he spread kerosene and lit it with a match — a statement he had given to police in 1979 that was apparently dismissed. An independent review found the series had mounted a compelling case for reopening the investigation.
NSW Police launched Strike Force Sedgeman to re-examine the case. The government posted a $1 million reward. By September 2024, police completed their review and handed a report to the State Coroner. As of early 2025, the decision on whether to formally reopen the case is still pending.