Mr. Hensley,

I did a Google search and found the photos of the July 1947 train wreck at Fonda, NY, that  you had posted on the trainboard website for Don Relyea. They are great photos.  At the time of the wreck, I was 15 years old and lived a few miles away.  When my family heard about it on the radio, we drove to the scene.  As the photos show, it was a big mess.
 

As a kid, I was as fan of the now defunct Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville (FJ&G) Railroad.  The tracks ran behind my house in Gloversville, NY.  On the final trip of one of the steam locomotives, there was a rail fan ride from Gloversville to Broadalbin and back. We were allowed to ride anywhere we wanted to.  Some people rode on the roofs of the passenger cars and the caboose. We took turns riding in the locomotive.  In those days, there apparently was no concern about liability and law suits if fans were hurt. As a kid, I wanted to be a locomotive engineer, but as it turned out, I followed a different career path.

Thanks for posting those great photos.

Regards,
Jack Sands
Waldorf, Maryland