With the limited knowledge I have of the Union Pacific requirements forlicensing, I believe SHS made a wise move in ceasing production of all items decorated for the Union Pacific. Just after news of the demands the Union Pacific was making became known, I spoke with a representative from Williams Trains in Maryland. He told me then that if the UP required his company to ante up, it would cease production of items labeled "Union Pacific."
I do not know exactly what "deals" can be carved out between the UP and manufacturers of model trains, but anyone can download the standard boilerplate from the UP website. It almost seems as if the UP is a para-IRS agency requiring reporting of total revenue, reporting of revenue generated from the sale of items labeled for the UP. That is not the end of the matter, however: The UP document goes on to claim "rights" to all insignia of fallen flags now part of the UP. That claim seems dubious. The company does absolutely no business under the names of any of the fallen flags. It does still have equipment lettered for many of these roads and has recently had some new diesel units painted for Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific with others, it is rumored, still to come, such as C&NW and MKT, presumably also D&RGW and SP. Whether it will also create schemes for what I call second-tier lines now part of the system but merged four decades ago into companies now part of the UP system I wonder. It might not leave any manufacturer with much to offer. To date the UP has been able to sign up a number of manufacturers with nothing more than a threatening letter. Which company, after all, has the resources to go up against the UP in court? Very few: If the little guy won in a lower court, the UP would undoubtedly continue to appeal until the case reached the Supreme Court. Few would argue with licensing requirements if they were simple to meet without all the reporting required by the UP strong-arm approach. In any case, despite my interest in the UP as a significant company in any time period one might wish to model, I concur with SHS that cessation of production of UP items is for the moment a prudent choice. As for the 2-9-0--well--how difficult would it be to acquire decals for a UP steam locomotive and apply them to an undecorated model? Tom [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To REPLY to the list, use REPLY ALL; to reply to the sender, use REPLY. For those of you on DIGEST mode, all REPLY messages go to the list (remember to edit the SUBJECT of your message). Change message settings, use our CALENDAR or LINKS, view shared files or photos, view the list archives, GO TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
