not an Amtrak expert, but it looks like a Siemens ACS-64 Amtrak Cities Sprinter to me.
My prayers are with the victims families

Dutch press says that 8 out of 10 coaches derailed in a curve.
A passenger says they were having a nice steady pace following which the coach he was in simply toppled over.

Sounds like exceeding the speedlimit on that particular part of the track.
If the engine was first to escape the tracks,it could have pulled the coaches with it.
Just guessing at this stage.

May the victims rest in peace.

In todays news here;

"As experts from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other agencies combed through the twisted wreckage for clues, several reports suggested the train may have been travelling at twice the authorised speed when it derailed.

The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources close to the investigation, said the train was travelling at 160 kilometres per hour — twice the speed allowed — when it went around a sharp curve."

A sad and stupid situation if true.

The news here tonight had the comment along the lines that "The engineer was being uncooperative and left with his Lawyer"

You have to wonder?

This link was posted to the Marklin Bar & Grill mail list (along with a number of other links which IIRC are accessible from that one).

I heard today that the safety equipment was installed however thay did not how to turn it on or something to that effect. Something to do with bandwidth and the GPS system. My condolences to the victims and survivors of this tragic accident. Unfortunately the sky is getting dark with vultures (lawyers).

Yes, new developments in this case this morning. There appears to be a reason to believe that the windshield of Amtrak 188 may have been hit by a projectile.

The engine driver, Brandon Bostian, may have been hit and this could be why he doesn't remember much? More to come, I'm sure. Peter

Watched CNN this morning.
A local resident says it is very easy to access the tracks from the local streets.
He also stated that kids were looking for trouble with trains all the time.
I got the impression that the police is not very eager to control the area,perhaps not the most wanted area to live in?
FBI and Amtrak are now collecting reports about other incidents with trains at that spot.

as i understand it, two other SEPTA trains had the windshields broken moments before the disaster. in 1943 the congressional limited suffered a similar fate at the same location. mikey

The overhead walkway bridge can be see in the photo. It starts just below the warehouse seen at the top centre of the photo and then travels across the tracks and passes over the accident spot between the locomotive and car #2 (car #1 lies twisted to the left of the other wreckage).
This walkway is too close to where the train stopped that it is unlikely that a rock or stone thrown from that location could have hit the train to cause the accident. A gun could have been used to shoot at the train from that distance. AFAIK the inspectors found the crack in the window, but no projectile has been found in the locomotive cab and the driver does not have a gunshot wound.
It is possible IMO that the crack in the windshield might have been caused by track ballast thrown into the air by the initial derailment.

The nearest other elevated crossings would be the Kensington Ave Septa line, which is just to the south of where the incident occurred or the G Street overpass, even further south.

Regards

Mike C

Hi Mike, yes I saw that overpass but I did not think that that one would have been the one used but one further south out of the photo on the bottom.

We shall see what develops. Peter