What was supposed to be an exciting milestone for Washington State’s railway system quickly spiraled into a horrifying tragedy.
On December 18, 2017, the Amtrak Cascades 501 train was making its inaugural trip on a newly-launched route designed to shave precious minutes off commuter time.
But just two minutes after crossing a critical speed zone, disaster struck—turning a morning ride into a deadly derailment.
The train, packed with 77 passengers, derailed over Interstate 5 near DuPont, Washington, killing three and injuring at least 70 others.
The impact crushed several cars and trucks on the highway below, creating chaos and devastation in just moments.
A Survivor’s Story: Quincy Linton’s Harrowing Experience
Among the passengers was Quincy Linton, then a teenager heading to meet his newborn niece.
In one moment, he was enjoying the scenic journey.
In the next, he found himself bloodied and dazed on the railroad tracks.
“I just remember blood everywhere—on my hands, my shoes, the ground,” Quincy recalls in an exclusive interview featured in NBC News Studios’ new series Survival Mode.
“I wanted to close my eyes and sleep, but this woman kept telling me, ‘Stay with me.
Don’t go to sleep.’” Her quick thinking likely saved his life.
Real-Life Heroes Stepped In
One of those real-life heroes was Tanya Porter, a nurse who had just finished her shift and happened to be driving by. She didn’t hesitate.
Tanya pulled over and jumped into action, even as others warned her about leaking fuel and the risk of explosions.
“I saw a man trapped under the dangling train,” she said. “People were yelling at me to move away, but I couldn’t just leave.
There were more people under there. If the train dropped, they’d be crushed.”
How It Happened: A Deadly Oversight
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the train was going 78 mph—nearly 50 miles over the speed limit for that section of the track.
The engineer missed a critical braking point, partly due to visibility issues caused by the train’s headlights.
The result? Not enough time to correct the speed before hitting a dangerous curve.
Worse still, the engineer was operating a new Charger locomotive that he wasn’t fully comfortable with.
While alarms had sounded, he didn’t react quickly enough—possibly due to unfamiliarity with the train’s controls.
The Promise of a Faster Commute
The Cascades 501 route had been marketed as a game-changer, offering a faster, smoother connection between Seattle and Portland.
Amtrak worked closely with state and local governments to create a more efficient system that separated passenger and freight traffic.
The hope was to cut down travel time by around ten minutes.
But that efficiency came at a steep cost.
Training Warnings Ignored
In the days leading up to the train’s maiden trip, more than a dozen engineers voiced concerns that they weren’t adequately trained.
Some said they only had brief exposure to the new equipment and route, which left them feeling dangerously underprepared.
The engineer on board had reportedly done several observational runs but had only personally operated the train three times—just once in the direction of the crash.
Despite these red flags, the train was cleared to operate, and officials pressed forward with the launch.
Aftermath and Accountability
The fallout was massive. Damages from the crash topped $25.8 million.
Over 35 lawsuits were filed against Amtrak, with several resulting in multimillion-dollar settlements for victims and their families.
The NTSB partly blamed Sound Transit, the agency managing Seattle’s transit system, for failing to install vital safety controls before launch.
According to OPB, the line had not been equipped with Positive Train Control—a GPS-based safety system that could have automatically slowed the train in dangerous zones.
New Safety Measures in Place
It wasn’t until four years later, in November 2021, that Amtrak resumed service on that route.
This time, with Positive Train Control fully activated and other safety upgrades implemented to prevent a repeat of the disaster.
A Look Back, and a Lesson Learned
NBC News Studios’ new limited series Survival Mode, airing July 28, dedicates an entire episode to this tragic crash.
Using raw survivor interviews and rare archival footage, the show dives deep into the human side of disasters that made national headlines.
Alongside stories like the Maui wildfires and the sinking of the Costa Concordia, the Amtrak Cascades crash is a sobering reminder of what happens when innovation outpaces preparation—and how ordinary people can become heroes in extraordinary moments.