File:IC 2499.jpg

Summary
The Illinois Central Railroad's sole 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotive, originally Illinois Central No. 1 and later No. 2499. This is a photograph from the Illinois Central archives and is now in the collection of Tom Parker at Illinois-Central.net (http://www.illinois-central.net/steam/ic2499.jpg). The photo is captioned as being taken at Fulton, Kentucky on October 8, 1946. If copyright still persists in this image - I am not sure of its publication history or copyright registration/renewal history - it most likely belongs to the Illinois Central Railroad's corporate successors, which since 1999 has been the Canadian National Railway.

As an official photograph taken by the Illinois Central Railroad, the value of this image to the railroad at the time and the current successors was in documenting the railroad; it was not taken with the intention of profit. I (User:Morven) contend that use to illustrate the history of the Illinois Central Railroad and its locomotives qualifies as Fair Use under US law.

It is also quite possible that the photo is by now in the public domain through either publication without copyright or the non-renewal of copyright.