My father and I happened to have tickets the day 473 was hit. Oddly enough, many people missed the accident. I remember a large group of riders and fans standing at the gate by the McDonalds wondering why the engine hadn't come out yet. After a while we heard that a truck had hit the locomotive, and we were all dumbstruck, because there was no road that led close enough to the ready track for that to make any sense. Later we learned (read in the Herald that I still have) that the truck had lost it's brakes coming down the hill from Mancos and lauched into the air at the bottom of the hill and then struck the locomotive. Amazingly enough the driver survived.
Mike Stillwell
Buena Vista, VA.