‘Everyone Was Devastated by the News . . . ‘ : Disaster: Sad story of a well-liked couple from Long Beach who perished in the Alabama train wreck percolated through their community.

Janice McNab, a longtime school principal in Long Beach, was taking her first post-retirement vacation with her husband, James, who was also retired from the Port of Long Beach.

On Sunday, the couple left Los Angeles on an Amtrak train ride across the country for what was to be a leisurely three-week vacation to visit relatives and see their 18-year-old daughter, Heather, play in a college volleyball tournament in Gainesville.

But they never made it.

They were among the 44 people who lost their lives early Wednesday morning when Amtrak’s Sunset Limited plunged into a murky bayou outside Mobile, Ala. At least five other Californians died in the crash: Diedra and Jennifer Camarena, Esteban R. Hernandez and Marsha Lester of Los Angeles, and Robert J. Diener of San Diego. The full list of fatalities will not be known until Amtrak officials complete notification of kin.

In Long Beach, the sad news percolated throughout the community Thursday morning.

At Patrick Henry Elementary School in Long Beach, where Janice McNab, 55, retired as principal in June, psychologists met with teachers and parents Thursday to plan activities to help students deal with the loss.

“Everyone was devastated by the news,” said Joyce Blasnek, a fourth grade teacher and friend.

“She was probably the most dedicated, enthusiastic school principal I have ever met,” said Richard Van Der Laan, a spokesman for the Long Beach Unified School District.

“She loved her work,” said Edith Bonner, a parent. “She had energy for everything. She never stopped.”

At the Harbor Department, workers were also shocked that James McNab, 57, was among those killed. He had worked as an analyst for the department for more than 25 years before his retirement in 1990. He was also a former president of the city employee’s association and once ran an unsuccessful campaign for state Assembly.

“He was always helping the underdog,” said Karen Todd, who was also active in the employee’s association. “But he didn’t like the limelight. When he retired, he didn’t want a party. He said give the money to an educational fund.”

“It’s so unfortunate, it’s so unfair,” said Donald McNab, the 61-year-old brother of James McNab. “You so often hear of people dying in these kinds of things. They are just names. Yes, they worked hard, they retired and they died. Just another name, until it’s someone close to you.”

The last time Donald McNab saw his brother was on Saturday when he dropped by the house to borrow the chain saw they shared.

“He wanted to whack down some shrubs,” McNab said. “I told him, ‘Don’t dull the blade like you did the last time.’ Then I said, ‘Have a good trip.’ I never thought those would be the last words we would say to each other.”

McNab said that when word of the crash came early Wednesday morning there was a glimmer of hope that his brother and sister-in-law had survived. But after several long hours without word, they finally began to lose hope.

“Finally a coroner down there described the body of a white male who fits my brother’s description, 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing about 250 pounds,” said McNab. “That’s when we knew he didn’t make it.”

Both McNabs were positively identified Thursday morning in Mobile by their older daughter, Sherrill Shaw, and her husband, Jim.

On Tuesday night before the crash, the McNabs were seated in the dining car across from an elderly Florida couple, Edith and Sigmund Steinberg.

“They were enjoying their trip and they said they were going to enjoy their retirement,” recalled Edith Steinberg, 77. “They were wonderful--she was very warm, he was full of fun. They were the most wonderful couple you would want to meet; these were warm, very warm people.”

As the two couples parted, Edith Steinberg was amazed to see that James McNab had to bow his head slightly to avoid touching the ceiling of the dining car.

She asked him how tall he was. McNab said proudly that he was “six-foot-six and three-quarters.” Janice, 6-feet tall, told the Steinbergs that all their daughters were also tall.

The two couples said good night, agreeing to see one another again at either breakfast or dinner the next evening.

The Steinbergs survived the crash and had been trying to find their new friends when they learned of their death.

“I thought they would be the first ones out,” said Edith Steinberg. “They were sports-minded, they were athletes. I thought people like my husband and I--well on in years and I don’t swim--would perish.”

Crash Fatalities

Partial list of people who died in Wednesday’s Amtrak crash in Alabama. Amtrak is releasing the names as they become available and after next of kin is notified.

* California Camarena, Diedra: Los Angeles Camarena, Jennifer: Los Angeles Lester, Marsha: Los Angeles Hernandez, Esteban: Los Angeles McNab, James and Jan: Long Beach Diener, Robert J.: San Diego

* Florida Skelton, Betty: Pensacola Skelton, Oscar: Pensacola Taube, James: West Palm Beach Taube, Ruth: West Palm Beach Furano, Patricia: Winter Haven Chancey, Mary: Orange Park Chancey, Gary: Orange Park Bentley, Mary Ellen: St. Petersburg Crenshaw, Lilly: Tampa Poole, Harold: Tallahassee Holtzworth, Geraldine: Tallahassee Holtzworth, William: Tallahassee Renz, Allan: Bradenton Renz, Katherine: Bradenton

* Others Childs, Marianne: Las Vegas Pearce, Billie: Reynoldsville, Pa. Veite, Christian: Punxsutawney, Pa. Galvan, Sheila: Bainbridge, Ga. Galvan, Sean: Bainbridge, Ga. Anderson, Shirley: Portland, Ore. Main, Lorna: Britain