"National Transportation Safety Board officials said that Amtrak 188, which derailed in Port Richmond, killing eight and injuring over 200, was also struck by an unknown object."
I believe it was a conductor who mentioned the train being struck by an object (the Amtrak that crashed), not the engineer.
Two other trains were struck by objects on the same stretch of tracks within a short time (one reported by Septa and one by passengers on another Amtrak) so it isn't too hard to imagine this one being also.
It may very well be all the engineer's fault, but I'm willing to keep an open mind. It is actually a much more dangerous situation if it is not his fault.
Look speeding is speeding.. a rock isn’t going to make you take a curve at 2×+ the posted speed..physical laws, not a rock or PC CYA, rules if you are going to derail