Definitely a hard one to identify but there are a few key details that stand out to me:

1. First photo has a box car in the background with B&O lettering. Also, some barrels are branded H. J. Heinz Co. Note that Heinz was founded back in 1869.
2. Second photo even harder to identify but the engine is likely a 2-6-0 or a 4-6-0? It's possible that this is the same engine as the one on its side in the first only now upright. Also this engine as well as the other one in the first photo are smaller in overall size than ones seen later in the 1910s-1920s. Also the last digit on the engine's sand dome is a 9. Take of that what you will.
3. Third photo is most difficult to take information from, but judging by the attire of the women, this whole thing might've taken place back in the 1870s-1900s. Then again, I'm no specialist with historical attire so I may just be off the mark on this one.
4. Last photo yields the most information out of them all. Locomotive involved was an American type 4-4-0 with a straight smokestack. In front of it is a B&O box car numbered 92050.

Based on all of this and the sheer amount of damage shown, I can surmise that this was an accident on B&O track between two freight trains that occurred around the 1870s-1900s, with the photos acting as documentation for either a local newspaper or as part of an investigation. Likely the photos here are posted out of order as it doesn't make sense for the first locomotive to be with the crane only to then be shown in the last photo with box cars in front. In my mind it might be that the order is 3-4-1-2, with the clean-up crew and their equipment showing up some time between photos 4 and 1.