1979 Sydney Ghost Train Fire
Now this was an ordinary night on June 9th of 1979 when tragedy struck.
The Godson family travelled from the small Central West town of Warren to Sydney for a much anticipated family holiday.The family of four – dad John, mum Jenny, and their two young sons Damien and Craig – were late arriving to ‘The Big Smoke’, after a train drivers’ strike forced them to take a series of buses for what is usually a six hour journey.But once they arrived in Sydney they made the most of their time, travelling around the city seeing the sights.
While waiting at Circular Quay for a ferry to take them across the harbour to Luna Park, the Godson family were approached by a Satanic-looking figure. A tall man wearing a horned mask and a leopard print loincloth. The figure stood behind six-year-old Damien, placed his hand on his shoulder, and someone took a photo.
The family then boarded the ferry headed towards Luna Park.
On the night of 9 June 1979, a fire broke out inside the ride at approximately 10:15 pm. Due to a combination of low water pressure, under-staffing within the park, and inadequate coverage of the Ghost Train by the park's fire hose system, the fire was able to completely consume the ride. 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.
Around 35 people were believed to have been on the ride when thick smoke began to escape from the tunnel doors. Ride staff raised the alarm, and began to pull people from the ride as their cars exited the tunnel. It was initially thought that everybody had escaped the fire, but at around 11:30 pm, the bodies of seven people were found inside the ride: John Godson and his two children, Damien and Craig, and four Waverley College students; Jonathon Billings, Richard Carroll, Michael Johnson, and Seamus Rahilly.
At the time of the fire, investigating police speculated that the seven had climbed out of their cars and unsuccessfully tried to find their way out of the tunnel; had they stayed in the cars, they might have survived. Other evacuated passengers reported seeing empty cars exit the tunnel on fire.
The man in the mask has never been identified and over the years there have been many theories about who – or what – he was.
Some believe he resembled the god Moloch, who asked for children to be sacrificed through fire or war. While others believe he was linked to a local satanic cult.