Train Versus Pedestrian in Laguna Niguel

The Mrs. and I decided to go down to the Laguna Niguel Metrolink station to see if I could get some video of the return trip of Santa Fe Steam Locomotive 3751 (I filmed the southbound trip this morning), but when we got there we met up with a couple of other folks with the same idea who informed us that there had been a fatal accident on the tracks just 1/2 mile north of the station and everything is backed up:

An Amtrak train headed for San Diego struck and killed a man on the tracks in Laguna Niguel this afternoon, delaying hundreds of commuters and stalling rail travel through South County

The train, carrying 130 passengers, slammed into a pedestrian about 3:15 p.m. near 27324 Camino Capistrano, according to police and Amtrak officials.

Lt. Dan Dwyer of the Orange County Sheriff's Department said the man died on the scene. Deputies have not identified him or the cause of the incident.

None of the passengers on the train were injured, Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell said. The Pacific Surfliner No. 578 was delayed three and a half hours as a result of the investigation, she said.

Photographer Richard Koehler, who was on the scene, said sheriff's deputies and coroner's investigators covered up visible body parts while walking the tracks and investigating the cause of the accident, he said.

The collision delayed train travel in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Mission Viejo.

A northbound Metrolink train was halted at the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station until about 5:15 p.m, when it was slowly allowed to proceed, Koehler said.

Updates on southbound services were not immediately available.

At last word the train is running about 2 1/2 hours late, so I may go back down there later to see if I can catch it. You just don't get to see these machines at full roar very often.

UPDATE: I went back around 9pm and caught the train as it came back through the Laguna Niguel station. I've added that video to the video I shot earlier, and you can find it here.

UPDATE 2: The accident in Laguna Niguel is now being reported as a suicide. The individual has been identified as 50-year old Robert Craft of Laguna Niguel.