A friend of Sanchez put a video on YouTube that included images of him driving a train and the words, "Rob, from all us railfans, we love you."

Higgins of the safety board has said reports of a driver distracted by a cell phone had proved false this year in the case of a fatal trolley accident in Boston.

The state chairman of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the union representing Sanchez, said it remained to be determined why he would pass a red signal, whether a health problem disabled him or whether in fact the signal was red, as Metrolink insists.

"He was not crazy, I can tell you that," the union official, Tim Smith said. Smith described Sanchez as conscientious about safety, saying he complained to the union about missing or broken signal flags along his route.

"He has been proactive about calling attention to things," Smith said. "He was known as one of the better engineers for Metrolink."

As television trucks set up camp, no one answered the door at Sanchez's home, a one-story, bungalow-style house in La Crescenta, a middle-class suburb north of Los Angeles.

Anoosh Gharadaghian, 46, who has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years, said Sanchez had moved in two to three years ago with four dogs. Gharadaghian described him as reclusive, saying, "He did not introduce himself to the neighbors, and this is a neighborhood where everyone knows each other."

Sanchez appeared to be single and was occasionally visited by an elderly woman Gharadaghian said she assumed was his mother. Another neighbor, George Paijuk, 19, a freshman at Pasadena City College, said Sanchez was "a very secluded guy, even the neighbors didn't know him."

At the scene of the crash, work continued to clear the scattered seats, glass, metal and other debris as investigators took pictures and videotaped the remnants of the collision.

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Utahn killed

The Associated Press list of victims includes Charles Peck, 58, of Salt Lake City. No other information was available Sunday night.