I don't think the switch was picked.

It's hard for me to tell for sure from the pictures I've seen so far, but it appears to me that the final four cars all flipped onto their sides. The last three of those cars are actually separated from the rest of the train and I think where those cars ended up is prior to the switch, so I think the derailment happened prior to the switch.

I am also surprised that the fatality count is the same as the 2017 Cascades derailment, which looked to be much more severe. The Cascades derailment caused Amtrak to scrap the Talgos. Perhaps the Empire Builder's derailment will expedite the Superliners' retirement? The first Superliners were built in 1975, so they will start turning 50 years old in 2025.