The photo is certainly based on reality:
1) Osage River and Galinipper place the incident near the city of Osceola as @wjstix pointed out.
2) The engine was identified as Frisco #595
3) A map of the Frisco tracks show it passing through Osceola
4) The Lowry City Independent, 14 April 1927 (Thursday), describes the following:
5) So on Monday April 11 1927, the date on the back of the picture, we know for sure that the water over the tracks was 51"
6) An article in the April 1959 edition of The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin stated Mogul wheels were 44" in diameter.
7) Even if the picture was a fake, one can readily conclude from the article that on Sunday April 10 and Tuesday April 12, engine wheels were running through water levels above the track.
