I must have ridden/driven route 58 through Danville a few hundred times in my life (on my way to & from Martinsville, VA- 30 miles away). When I was young, my mother would alyays break into the verse "It's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg down to Danville" when we would pass the roadside marker. I have read a few varying accounts of the accident, and I never once heard of the canaries- pretty cool.