Think maybe the guy woke up and sped up -- when his windshield got shattered?
Two things are coming out about the wreck. First the NTSB says he increased speed before the curve up from 70 mph to over 100 mph, followed by reducing it a few seconds before the train left the rails.
The second thing that has not been focused on is that two trains that night were hit by "projectiles" (read PC-talk for bullets) from utes (i.e. thugs)in the North Philly neighborhood the tracks pass through - A SEPTA commuter train, and an Amtrak ACELA train from NYC to DC. From the looks of the right (engineer) side windshield of the engine, his train was the third. Mayor Nutter says the incident(s) has nothing to do with the wreck, but having the windshield in front of you hit by bullets will do nothing if not distract and likely disorient you for a few moments.
Don't be distracted by the talk about PTC delays coming out of Congress. It's irrelevant to this discussion. The reason is that Amtrak deserves a good part of the blame by not having existing train speed control technology installed on the northbound curves; they are installed on the southbound curves due to the train reduction in speed approaching Philly. This is old but very reliable technology and you can bet it will be installed before or shortly after the tracks reopen next week.
Think maybe the guy woke up and sped up -- when his windshield got shattered?
Or maybe that window damage is from the inside? When he hit it with his head during the collision? (The wiper is intact and over the shatters, suggesting that the force came from the interior.)