I believe we can see half of the end of the deceased reefer, the end that would have been to the right of the viewer who was watching the train, and a portion of the adjacent side that would have been on the opposite side of the track from the viewer.  Chances are that would have been the B end, since there seems to be a brake wheel just about dead center in the rubble.  It might be possible to make an educated guess as to whose reefer it was, based on the construction.  If I was interested in taking a break from layout construction, I might.

While both the B&O box and the Southern gon are clearly destroyed, the advantages of steel are abundantly clear.  The load in that gon isn't even spilled.  If I had to guess, though, I'll bet the wrecking crew would have dumped it over the side before or while they were in the process of picking up the car.

Now, an actual question.  Who owns those crates of oranges at that point, after they've gone into the ditch?  Aside from the bystanders, who probably have snagged a handful or a bucketful of them, would they have gone to a railroad salvage entity?  Even in those days, they probably were not legally available for resale to a local grocery store, right?  Or would they have been left to rot in place?

One has to assume that the B&O claims agent has already been on the scene by the time this photo was taken.

I know we have some actual traffic experts on this list.

Ron Merrick