They rode the southbound train in the predawn darkness, some napping, some reading, some chatting with the friends they had made over the years.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy James Tutino, 47, boarded at the first stop, Simi Valley, before 5:20 a.m.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday January 28, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 26 words Type of Material: Correction
Train wreck -- A graphic in Thursday's Section A about survivors of the Metrolink train crash gave the name of survivor Scott Cox as David Cox.
He needed to make it to downtown Los Angeles for an early meeting.
Tutino rode only a few times a month. He sat in the first car, with a group of fellow deputies. He told them his knee was bothering him and he didn't want to work the clutch of his Mustang in rain-soaked traffic.
About half an hour later, Steve Toby, 51, boarded the second car at the downtown Burbank station. A stranger was sitting in his regular seat. He chose another several rows back.
Theresa Gillen, 37, boarded at the same station, en route to her job at a Los Angeles day-care center. Her mother, Eleanor, had dropped her off, as she did each day. She got on the first car of Metrolink Train No. 100.
Minutes later, there was a loud noise, and then the sound of rocks striking the undercarriage.
Some screamed. Then, as the train careened off the track and the lights went out, the passengers fell silent. The only sound was the shriek of metal against gravel.
Derailed by an empty SUV left by a despondent man, Train No. 100 was hurtling toward a sidelined freight locomotive.
For the passengers on board, survival was a matter of chance.
The impact against the Union Pacific locomotive spun the lead car sideways, and popped Scott Cox's second-floor seat from its bolts.
Cox, 29, looked out a hole that had been ripped into the car to see the overturned yellow locomotive beside the train. Below, he saw fire. A woman's legs dangled out of the train. Cox pulled her in, to safety.
In the darkness of the wreckage, injured passengers cried for help -- a scream that someone was pinned inside, a woman moaning that she could not move.
Cox walked with other passengers toward the back stairs.
He stepped over another woman sprawled on the floor. Then he compared his injuries to hers, and went back. Cox stayed with her until help arrived.
Still inside the train, Steve Toby had been thrown across the car.
Toby, who runs the audio for Los Angeles City Council meetings, landed on top of a woman who works for the Department of Water and Power, someone he saw regularly but had never met.
