Sydney Ghost Train fire
The Sydney Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney in Australia killed seven people and destroyed the ride on 9 June 1979. The fire was originally blamed on an electrical fault. A 1979 coronial inquiry and mid-1980s investigation were inconclusive about the fire's cause.
Over the years there have been claims the true cause was arson ordered by Abe Saffron, and that NSW Police had covered it up. This conspiracy theory was perpetuated by park artist Martin Sharp, who spent over three decades amassing a large personal archive of documents relating to the fire, creating art inspired by the fire and advocating for new investigations into its cause, insisting it had been deliberately lit.
Since Saffron's death in 2006, two of his relatives have substantiated this theory. A 2021 Australian Broadcasting Corporation investigation featured testimony from numerous eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen the fire being deliberately lit. The ABC concluded that Saffron was responsible and that NSW Police had indeed conspired to cover up his involvement. Renewed interest since then has led to public demand for the case to be reopened. In late 2024, there were court hearings indicating the potential for a second coroner's inquest.
Background
Ride
The Ghost Train was one of Luna Park's 1935 opening day attractions. Located between Big Dipper's station and the River Caves, the building housing it was originally built as a storeroom for equipment awaiting installation after arriving from Luna Park Glenelg. Architectural plans of the Ghost Train are held at the State Library of New South Wales.The looped recording that attracted guests to the ride promised "the creepiest spine-tingling ride of your life", adding:
Cars would enter through a door reading "Hell's Doorway." Many twists and turns in pitch black then followed, yanking passengers along a 180-metre electric track. Most of the ride was pitch black. The ride was lined with dancing skeletons, an ape monster, a dragon's head, Dracula in a graveyard and a skeleton in a box. The ride also featured a fake fireplace which, according to witnesses, is where the actual fire originated.
Martin Sharp park involvement
Artist Martin Sharp had been involved with Luna Park since being invited to redesign the face in 1973. Sharp was a passionate advocate for the park and was also fixated on the eccentric musician Tiny Tim, who played a ukulele and commanded a working knowledge of thousands of popular songs. In January 1979, Sharp brought Tiny to Australia to set the world record for the longest non-stop professional singing marathon in a concert at Luna Park. In April 1979, several children were injured when the park's Big Dipper roller coaster crashed. Sharp wrote a letter to NSW Premier Neville Wran expressing concerns about safety at the park, but chose not to send it after a friend warned him the language was too strong.Fire
On the night of 9 June 1979, Jennifer and John Godson, and their two children Damien and Craig, were visiting Sydney on holiday from Warren in regional New South Wales. Before boarding a ferry to Luna Park at Circular Quay, a man dressed in a "loincloth and wearing a mask with horns" approached Damian Godson for unknown reasons and silently placed a hand on his shoulder. Jennifer Godson then took a photo, which ended up being the last of Damian while alive. The man has never been identified. While at Luna Park, the Godson children rode the Ghost Train once but insisted on going again. At around 10pm, Jennifer decided to buy ice creams for the family but returned to find that Damien, Craig and John had all boarded the Ghost Train without her. Five students from Waverley College were also on the ride at that time - Jonathan Billings, Richard Carroll, Michael Johnson, Seamus Rahilly and Jason Holman - on a rare independent outing, having spent the earlier part of the day "playing rugby and attending church."Fire broke out inside the ride at approximately 10:15 pm. Around thirty-five people were believed to have been on the ride when thick smoke began to escape from the tunnel doors. The fire began within an imitation fireplace that typically had paper "flames", which confused several of the riders. Once others realised the fire was real, they warned the ride operators who began to pull people from the ride as their cars exited the tunnel.
It took an hour to bring the fire under control, but it was extinguished before any significant damage could be done to the adjacent River Caves and Big Dipper. Sharp arrived at Luna Park around 11pm after receiving a call from Arkie Whiteley and watched the plumes of smoke from a distance.
John, Damian and Craig Godson perished in the fire, leaving the surviving Jennifer Godson in immense shock at the sudden loss of her husband and children. Billings, Carroll, Johnson and Rahilly also died, leaving survivor Holman from the group as he was removed from the ride at the last minute. Most of the ride was destroyed, leaving behind burnt-out cars and "a painting of a leering skeleton."
Subsequent events
1979-1984: Initial investigation, Abe Saffron rumours and ''Street of Dreams''
The morning after the fire, Sharp delivered his unsent letter to Wran about safety concerns at the park. The fire was a major turning point in Sharp's life that would consume his artistic practice and activism for the next three decades.Luna Park was shut down immediately after the fire for a federal investigation. The fire was initially blamed on an "electrical fault" by NSW Police, who immediately ruled out arson. It was also speculated that the seven dead had climbed out of their cars and unsuccessfully tried to find their way out of the tunnel and may have survived had they stayed in the cars. In September 1979, the results of a Coroner's Court of New South Wales inquest were released. The Coroner concluded that the cause of the fire "cannot conclusively be stated", while accepting expert testimony that the ride's permanent wiring and attractions were unlikely to have been the source of ignition though could not be completely excluded. Having heard from witnesses that ride patrons often ignored no smoking signs and "had the habit of discarding food wrapping and other litter", Anderson stated that while "the most probable cause of the fire was ignition of flammable litter by a cigarette or match... discarded by a person riding on the train... how the fire was ignited, the evidence adduced does not allow me to say".
Anderson's inquiry examined issues beyond the source of ignition. He found that Luna Park's management had failed to develop an adequate fire suppression program despite recommendations by North Sydney Council and the fire department eighteen months earlier. Anderson's report stated that while the park's owners and management had failed in their duty of care towards patrons, the failure was not "that high degree of negligence necessary to support a charge of criminal negligence". The Government of New South Wales called for new tenders to operate the park on 31 July 1979. It was also revealed that a Sydney design consultant advised Luna Park management to install a sprinkler system in the Ghost Train in December 1977 but this recommendation was not followed.
Unsatisfied with the investigation's results, Sharp began to construct his own conspiracy theory of how the fire had occurred. Sharp discovered that Abe Saffron had unsuccessfully attempted to buy Luna Park from owner Ted Hopkins several years before the fire. Word then reached him from several people, including a park employee and someone with connections to Long Bay Correctional Centre, that Saffron had ordered the fire and the NSW Police had covered it up. Applying the Jungian concept of synchronicity, Sharp also began to document what he perceived as theological connections between Tiny Tim's performance and the fire. He then began work on Street of Dreams, a new documentary film that would cover all of these topics - the life of Tiny Tim, the history of Luna Park, Tiny Tim's performance there, the fire, Sharp's religious beliefs, the perceived theological connections between these topics and evidence that Saffron was responsible for the fire.
Luna Park faced an uncertain future for many years as a result of the fire, opening and closing several times. Throughout the 1980s, Sharp led a group called Friends of Luna Park who attempted to save the park from permanent closure and redevelopment. In 1980, photographer Michael Barker was working with the Friends and helping to document the park in its closed state. He was killed in a hit and run incident in November of that year. His brother John, also a photographer working with Sharp, then claimed to receive an anonymous phone call that said "stop going to Martin Sharp's, or you'll end up like your brother."
In 1984, Sharp curated an exhibition called Luna Images: The Face of Sydney at the Ivan Dougherty Gallery which included the name "Saffron" throughout various artworks. As Sharp's obsession with the fire escalated, he began to give equal weight to theological abstractions as more concrete evidence pertaining to the incident. He later told interviewers that he does not consider "one level more valid than another" and that he felt responsible for the fire, having been involved in the park's restoration: "We made the place look safe, using our artistic talents. I feel that the artists could see things going wrong and we should have contacted the right people."
1985-1987: Second investigation
In the mid-1980s, an inquiry into the fire was held by the National Crime Authority. One witness claimed the fire was started by "a group of bikies working for an underworld figure who was trying to gain control of the park." It was also claimed by NSW MP Michael John Hatton that Saffron had beneficial ownership of the park. The inquiry also found that Harbourside Amusements, the company which leased the park in the aftermath of the fire, employed two of Saffron's cousins and one of his nephews. However, they concluded that this did not mean Saffron was directly linked to the park's ownership.Overall, it was concluded that while no particular cause for the fire could be determined, the police investigation and coronial inquiry were ineffective and this "diminished the public's confidence in the justice system." The investigation also noted Sharp's involvement, noting that while his theories the fire was deliberately lit were "often extreme and eccentric", they were also "not without cause." That year Sharp also organised an exhibition in memory of those who perished in the fire. On opening night, he stood alongside Jennifer Poidevin as they both reiterated their belief the fire was deliberately lit and called for another investigation.