Luna Park mechanic who knows every nut and bolt still on the job

He knows every nut and bolt of the heritage-listed fun park, having numbered, dismantled, removed, refurbished and then rebuilt every ride twice. It’s fair to say Luna Park is his life.

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Living in Sydney has been a merry-go-round for Tony Maloney.

The 71-year-old started working at Luna Park as a wide-eyed 13-year-old and he is still there.

He literally knows every nut and bolt of the heritage-listed fun park, having numbered, dismantled, removed, refurbished and then rebuilt every ride twice, in 1993 and 2000.

After keeping the park safe for generations, the master mechanic tried to retire a few years ago but couldn’t leave the magic behind.

Tony Maloney checks up on a merry-go-round. Picture: Justin Lloyd

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After a few weeks away from the fun park that has been his life, he was on the phone to the park’s managing director Peter Hearne. “I rang Peter, who said ‘why don’t you come back two or three days a week’,” Mr Maloney said.

He has been on every ride in the park countless times but Mr Maloney remains a rollercoaster tragic and looks back with nostalgia on the days of Luna Park’s wooden rollercoaster, its original Big Dipper.

“We used to have to walk the whole ride every hour because the rails would move,” he said yesterday.

Tony Maloney is the longest-serving employee at the park. Picture: Justin Lloyd

There was a narrow boardwalk the mechanics used while the trains were going — and for the record there were three carriages carrying up to 72 people at a time.

Mr Maloney has since ridden some of the world’s biggest rollercoasters but nothing can scare him.

“I love coasters, it’s the adrenaline rush,” he said.

The 83-year-old park has had its own rollercoaster of a history.

It closed after the fatal Ghost Train fire in 1979, opening again in 1982 only to close again and reopen in 2004.

Mr Maloney wasn’t at work the night that a father, his two sons and six school students died when fire destroyed the wooden Ghost Train building, but he still felt the impact of the tragedy.

Firemen battle the blaze at the Ghost Train ride on a tragic night in 1979.

Luna Park’s Ghost Train building as it appeared in the 1940s.

Inquests have since failed to determine a cause, ruling out an electrical fault and reports of arson and finding that, on that night, there was no attendant patrolling inside the building “in case of fire” as had been the practice.

Mr Maloney grew up in Milsons Point, not far from Luna Park, and his grandfather drove the steam trains that dropped off passengers to catch ferries before the bridge was built.

He remembers when huge queues waited to get into the park and the first 500 kids into the park got a bag of lollies and free tickets to four rides.

“We used to go swimming in the morning and then to the park to spend Saturday afternoon and it was fantastic,” he said.

The dance hall and bandstand from the 1940s at Sydney’s famous attraction.

Sliding thrills at Luna Park in the 1950s.

Luna Park Udrive and Coney Island kept them queueing in the 1960s.

He was almost a “Luna Park baby”, following his parents Joan and Alan Maloney working on sideshows such as Hoopla and the Laughing Clowns from the age of 13. He started full-time as a fitter in 1961.

Mr Maloney met his wife, Wendy, when she worked as secretary to Ted Hopkins, the showman who transported the original Luna Park rides from a failed amusement park in Glenelg in South Australia to the former bridge work yards.

The couple’s three children worked at the park and there is even one site, Maloney’s Corner, named after Tony.

The original face was painted by artist Rupert Brown around 1935.

The park’s fifth face, designed by artist Arthur Barton, circa 1950.

The face of Luna Park catches a ride during a 2001 re-fit.

Children ride the Wild Mouse after the 2004 re-opening. NSW / Amusement Centre

Mr Maloney knows all the tricks and secrets that make the rides a thrill but his “baby” is the Wild Mouse rollercoaster, which arrived the year before he did.

For years he took it to pieces and rebuilt it at the Easter Show, when the show was held at Moore Park to the background of singing by three brothers better known as the Bee Gees.

Mr Maloney has overseen all types of dismantling, such as this one in 2003. Picture: Scott Hornby

Jordan Stenmark and Dancing With The Stars partner Jessica Prince went on Luna Park rides for Jordan to overcome dizziness.

Katy Perry tries a Luna Park dodgem.

Night-time magic at the timeless fun park.

Mr Maloney loves hearing customers come back and reminisce. Picture: Justin Lloyd

He even took the Wild Mouse up to Brisbane and on a train over the Nullarbor to Perth.

Mr Maloney is unashamed about his love of the whimsical amusement park and even its old daggy rides such as the River Caves and Noah’s Ark.

“I love seeing people coming back. They go on the slippery dips and swear the slides were much higher and longer when they were kids,” he said.

Now required to get development approval for new rides, the park is lining up some Christmas specials including the Power Surge and the Wave Swinger, which have a perfect spot in Maloney’s Corner.