No, but he could have went to the floor in gun fire or objects entering the glass (the windscreen is only bullet suppressant for 22LR according to some commentators), and hit the throttle on the way down. That’s the theory... there are some rather mysterious damage points on the wind shield of the locomotive.
So I am waiting for the official story. And if I had to bet (and I don’t, but if I did...), my money would be on the engineer NOT being suicidal or a speed demon. Either disorientation or something external.
trainorders.com has hidden his posts from site searches at this point, but he was a member over there, and commented often on safety.
I also don’t consider him lawyering up a indicator of wrong doing. It’s just logical when dealing with law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
I sympathize, because it really is pretty hard to fathom that some fool could be so depraved as to deliberately take a plane down in the Alps, or deliberately accelerate an Amtrak train approaching a sharp curve to twice the speed allowed on the straight away.
There is no way to find bullet holes in shattered glass and destroyed screens of wreckage.
Think about this. The engineer didn’t remember what happened, but he immediately remembered well enough to refuse to give any statement to responders and investigators, and he well enough remembered to lawyer up ASAP. Thankfully, they have his cell phone, the black box and given the terrorism threats to transportation, probably exterior film of the entire run.