On the evening of June 9, 1979, during a statewide rail strike and the festive ‘cracker night’ of the June long weekend, a group of Waverley College boys boarded the Ghost Train at Sydney’s Luna Park. Friends since kindergarten, Jonathan Billings, Richard Carroll, Michael Johnson, and Seamus Rahilly rode together, paired in carriages. Their younger friend Jason Holman waited alone in his carriage.
The Ride Turns to Tragedy
Holman watched his friends vanish through ‘Hell’s Doorway’ into the 180-meter darkened track filled with glowing skeletons, a dragon’s head, and Dracula. Moments later, a ride attendant pulled him from his carriage and placed him over a safety fence. Smoke soon billowed, and flaming carriages emerged. ‘I started to freak out,’ Holman recalls. ‘I kept looking for my mates.’
An explosion forced him back. A mother noticed his distress and urged him to leave. As sirens wailed and emergency lights flashed under Luna Park’s iconic face, chaos unfolded.
Firefighters Race Against the Inferno
Peter Little, a rookie firefighter from The Rocks station just six months out of training, arrived in one of the first trucks. His crew faced thick smoke plumes rising 100 meters, visible from the Harbour Bridge. Low water pressure from hydrants plagued efforts—hoses produced only a drizzle. Firefighters repositioned trucks to suction water directly from Sydney Harbour.
Near the blaze, Little asked a woman to move back. ‘My husband and children are in there,’ she replied—Jenny Godson, who lost her family that night. The exchange haunts Little decades later.
Crews battled for over an hour, using turntable ladders as water towers and relay pumps. The fire spread to the Big Dipper and River Caves, destroying Toyland. Highly flammable materials and no sprinklers caused the Ghost Train to collapse in sparks and debris. At 11:17 pm, the fire was declared out, but crews cooled wreckage and searched amid risks of electrocution from damaged wiring.
Grim Discoveries Inside
Junior firefighter Little entered with a senior colleague. They found the boys clustered together, burned severely. Further in, the Godson father lay shielding his two young children. Recovery took over six hours amid smoldering debris. Damage patterns suggested no electrical fault at the switchboard.
Geoff Farlow, riding with friends, spotted flames in a fake fireplace—possibly from cellophane over a light globe. He saw the Godson boys enter behind his group.
Families Shattered
Richard Carroll’s parents learned of his death from police at their home. Mary Carroll vomited in shock; the family huddled in grief. Holman, driven home by officers, reunited with his tearful mother and visited the Billings family, crawling into Jonathan’s bed in denial. Sid Billings’ wails echoed upon confirmation.
Park leaseholder Leon Fink rushed from dinner, initially hopeful, then devastated as child deaths emerged. Luna Park closed for 44 years.
Questions Linger
The park electrician, Eddie Devine, arrived amid rumors of cigarette smoke or bikie involvement; he returned depressed. Reporter Paul Molloy noted ambulances removing bodies and hoses riddled with holes, delaying response—details later edited from his story.
Bodies identified via watches and dental records; families denied views. The Ghost Train was bulldozed swiftly, erasing clues. A 1979 inquest deemed the cause undetermined. Later reviews called it ineffective amid arson and corruption allegations. A NSW Police evidence review awaits the coroner’s decision on a fresh inquest.
