Rail enthusiast and Rail Passengers Association member Jim Hamre has been identified as one of three people who died in an Amtrak passenger train crash in Dupont Monday morning.
The train was on an overpass when it derailed. Some cars toppled onto southbound I-5, striking vehicles, and at least one dangled from the trestle.
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A news release from the RPA said Hamre was devoted his family and friends, as well as a passionate advocate for passenger railroad and advancing the advocacy work of RPA. %
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As the National Transportation Safety Board investigates the cause of the accident, the RPA said its membership and staff are mourning Hamre's loss, as well as the loss of Hamre's friend, Zack Willhoite, who was also an RPA member.
"Jim was among the country's most-respected and effective rail advocates and a good friend and mentor to me. I will miss his counsel, and our community is poorer for his loss," said Rail Passengers Association President Jim Mathews. "Both Jim and Zack have been advocates of transit and passenger rail for decades, and we can't thank them enough for their work. Our thoughts are with their families at this time, as they work through this tragedy."
"Jim was proud of the part that rail advocates played as stakeholders in expanding passenger rail services in the Northwest," said RPA Chairman Peter LeCody. "Last year he took my wife and me on a tour of the region showing how important rail is to connect us in our daily lives. I will miss my friend Jim."
Hamre was a board member for the RPA as well as a vice president of All Aboard Washington.
He started work on the Milwaukee Road in the early 1970s while studying at Washington State University and moved on to work at the Washington State Department of Transportation.
He became involved in transportation advocacy in the early 1980s.
"Jim combined personability and kindness, and paired it with an intricate and detailed knowledge of transit policy and technical insight. This made him an extremely powerful advocate and an inspiration for others." -- RPA
More on derailment from KIRO 7
- NTSB: Derailed train going 80 mph in 30 mph zone
- PHOTOS: Train details onto I-5 near Lacey in Washington
- What to know: Q&A after train derails over I-5, killing 3
- New era of rail service rolling into Tacoma Dome Station begins
- LIVE VIDEO: Train derails onto I-5
- Bloodworks Northwest in desperate need of blood donors after train derails onto I-5
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