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2 Killed in Amtrak Crash Shared a Passion for Trains ‘A Cruel Irony’: 2 Killed in Amtrak Crash Were Rail Fans Eager for Maiden Run
(about 5 hours later)
Two of the victims of the Amtrak derailment near Tacoma, Wash., on Monday, Zack Willhoite and James Hamre, were close friends and rail enthusiasts who were traveling together on the train’s inaugural journey. Train enthusiasts — those people who plan their vacations by the lines they can ride, who can recite the numbers of their favorite locomotives, who collect vintage model trains and share photographs of them on Facebook groups — do not often get the chance to ride on the very first run of a newly opened line.
Rail travel has been retrenching for decades in this age of the jet and the interstate. Rail buffs have tried hard to change that, and the new route south from Seattle looked like one of their successes: an old freight line upgraded to smooth out and speed up Amtrak’s Cascades passenger service in Washington and Oregon.
So quite a few of the people who boarded Train No. 501 on Monday for the maiden run were rail fans. And when the train crashed off the newly refurbished rails south of Tacoma with 77 passengers aboard, at least two of the three people who were killed in the accident came from that world.
James Hamre, 61, was a train enthusiast to his marrow, the son and grandson of railway employees, who spent his retirement promoting train travel. Zack Willhoite, 35, his close friend, worked for a transportation agency in Washington State and volunteered his free time for a regional rail advocacy group. Mr. Hamre’s family and Mr. Willhoite’s employer confirmed their deaths.
“It’s a cruel irony,” said Malcolm Kenton, a writer and consultant in the passenger rail industry who knew both men.
Speaking by cellphone from an Amtrak train rolling through upstate New York bound for Montreal, a long-planned trip with a friend, Mr. Kenton said that as soon as he heard about the derailment of Train 501, he worried that it would be full of rail enthusiasts. “If I had extra time on my hands,” he said, “I would have been on it myself.”
Local authorities in Washington State were still scrambling on Tuesday to treat people seriously injured in the accident — in all, nearly 100 were hurt — and to clear the debris from the freeway where one of the train’s engines and several of its cars landed. State officials said they were not yet prepared to publicly identify the dead.
Jim Mathews, president and chief executive of the Rail Passengers Association in Washington, D.C., said at least a dozen members of his organization were on the train, and more were waiting at stations where it was scheduled to stop, planning to hand out commemorative souvenirs to passengers who disembarked. As of Tuesday afternoon, he had not yet accounted for everyone’s whereabouts. Mr. Hamre served on the association’s board of directors.
“We talk about passion, but it’s almost an inadequate word for what they have,” Mr. Mathews said of rail advocates. “Yesterday should have been a celebration. It should have been a coming-out moment for a really vital new service.”
Mr. Mathews and other rail advocates said they were now worried that the accident would make the public fearful about train safety. “I’m afraid it’s going to be used to ill effect,” he said. “There’s lessons to be learned from any wreck. But the risk is that we learn the wrong lesson.”
Before the inaugural trip on Monday, both Mr. Willhoite and Mr. Hamre told friends and colleagues that they planned to ride the new Train 501 — a thrill for two people who were vocal advocates for rail travel’s potential in the Pacific Northwest.
“It was just a given that they would be there,” said Lloyd Flem, a colleague and friend. “They had wanted to be on that very, very first run.”“It was just a given that they would be there,” said Lloyd Flem, a colleague and friend. “They had wanted to be on that very, very first run.”
Mr. Flem, the executive director of All Aboard Washington, a rail advocacy group, said in an interview on Tuesday that he had seen both men just a few days before. They were their usual happy selves, he said, eager to board Amtrak’s train No. 501 early Monday morning. Mr. Flem, the executive director of All Aboard Washington, a regional rail advocacy group, said on Tuesday that he had seen both men just a few days before the accident. They were their usual happy selves, he said, eager to board the new train early Monday morning.
Both Mr. Willhoite and Mr. Hamre were passionate about rail transportation and the possibilities it offered for the Pacific Northwest. For Mr. Hamre, trains were a century-long family legacy, said his brother, Michael Hamre, who spoke from his home in Tacoma.
For Mr. Hamre, 61, trains were a century-long family legacy, said his brother, Michael Hamre, who spoke from his home in Tacoma. Their grandfather worked for a railroad in the Midwest that has since been swallowed up in mergers. Their parents met in the early 1950s as employees for a railroad in Montana.
Their grandfather worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, which no longer operates. Their parents met in the early 1950s as employees for a railroad in Montana. “We have always had trains in our blood,” Mr. Hamre said, recalling a childhood where model train layouts were always under construction in their home. He said his brother loved taking road trips to find scenic spots where he could photograph trains as they thundered by.
“We have always had trains in our blood,” Mr. Hamre said, recalling a childhood where model train layouts were always under construction in their home. James Hamre never married or had children, his brother said, and helped care for their mother, Carolyn, 89, who lived with him.
James Hamre never married or had children, his brother said, and helped care for their mother, Carolyn, who is 89. He worked for the Washington State Department of Transportation before retiring several years ago, his brother said, and spent much of his time since then indulging his passion for travel and for trains.
He worked as a civil engineer for the Washington State Department of Transportation before retiring several years ago, and spent much of his time since then indulging his passion for travel and for trains.
“He’s been all over Europe and Africa, Australia,” Mr. Hamre said. “He chases trains. He’s got a radio that connects to theirs. He’ll take trains to Montana. He’s got quite a collection of photographs of them.”“He’s been all over Europe and Africa, Australia,” Mr. Hamre said. “He chases trains. He’s got a radio that connects to theirs. He’ll take trains to Montana. He’s got quite a collection of photographs of them.”
James Hamre formed a fast friendship with Mr. Willhoite, 35; both of them were volunteers for All Aboard Washington. Mr. Willhoite worked as an information technology specialist for Pierce Transit in Lakewood, Wash. His employer confirmed his death. James Hamre formed a fast friendship with Mr. Willhoite; both men were volunteers for All Aboard Washington. Mr. Willhoite worked as an information technology specialist for Pierce Transit in Lakewood, Wash.
Mr. Willhoite had worked for the agency since 2008 and was “deeply appreciated and admired by his colleagues,” the statement said. Mr. Willhoite had worked for the agency since 2008 and was “deeply appreciated and admired by his colleagues,” Pierce Transit said in a statement posted on its website.
He was married, an avid comic book reader and a “Star Wars” fan, according to Mr. Flem of All Aboard Washington. He was married, an avid comic book reader and a “Star Wars” fan, according to Mr. Flem. He also got a kick out of old buses, Mr. Flem said, and owned an old transit bus himself.
“He got a kick out of old buses,” Mr. Flem said. “He owned an old transit bus. His nickname was Bus Dude.” Harvey Bowen, the president of All Aboard Washington, said he believed a proper response to the deaths of rail advocates — even in an accident on the mode of travel they loved — would be to intensify efforts to promote trains.
Mr. Flem said he was too stunned to completely absorb the deaths of his friends. “They’re two of the hardest of the hard core, dependable people,” he said. “I think it would be a disservice to them to do anything but redouble our efforts toward the goals that we shared,” Mr. Bowen said. “Jim would be very disappointed if anyone would not ride the train or not expand railway service because of this.”