Athearn and Lionel have said no to UP licensing fees.
If no more model trains were made with Union Pacific markings, would you care?
This isn’t intended to be more discussion of the lawsuit! This is for you to tell everyone how much impact the Union Pacific has on your modeling and buying habits.
Personally, I own a couple of engines and a bunch of cars, but I don’t go out of my way to buy UP. I would be perfectly happy to buy undecs and paint them myself, which makes what UP is trying to license somewhat meaningless.
Who’s Union Pacific? I ight have some UP stuff (mostly in a scrapyard I’ll have[}:)]) but for the most part it will be all northeast. Until Athearn releases a UP flag SD70M WITH FLARES I’m not getting any UP engines (then again that new Kato AC4400 looks nice)
Would I mind if no one made UP models? Nope; I’ve got the few I need. Unfortunately, I need more C&NW, C&EI, C&A and Mo Pac stuff. I’d REALLY like to see a model of 1385 one of these days (BLI, are you listening?), and we’ll never get one if this whole licensing garbage isn’t satisfied soon (and politely).
I have a few cars & locomotives that I bought from a freind who’s a die hard UP fan but I don’t go out of my way to buy UP stuff.
CP stuff is a different matter [;)]
I have ONE Uncle Pete boxcar and it could very well end up as a Trackside Shanty… not because I dont like Uncle Pete, I just dont like that particular boxcar…
If all production of UP models stopped today I have most available UP engines I want, because today arrived the latest addition: I got my Lionel Veranda and a P2K FA / FB set, now my roster for UP till 1960 is almost complete, 39 units : 25 diesels, 14 steam.
as I read all this things about modeling UP, I feel almost [:I] ashamed, collecting UP locomotives, so the least I could do not to offend fellow forum members is censor my signature . .
If they stopped making models with UP markings…It wouldn’t affect me in the slightest. I have only a couple of UP items as it is and maybe a few of the fallen flags. And they are what I refer to as rolling scenery. That is not to say that I dislike UP, but I wouldn’t say I like them either. They have a few interesting pieces of history that I might like to own someday…for example the FEF3 4-8-4 …but I happen to like it because it’s a neat looking locomotive, not because UP ran it.
I say make all models undecorated…let’s bring back painting and decalling…
In the meantime, I’ll talk with the CEO of Maritime…I may get him to ease up on the licensing contract thing.
i am very loyal to U.P. i hope someday there 90% of the coutry’s RR and the way there growing it could be…and i hope Athearn and Lionel lose there battle and lose alot of business.
I’m extremely loyal to UP. I don’t really approve of this copyrighting stuff, but hey, they’ve been around for over a century, so let them do what they will. If they stopped producing UP models, I’d die, or model ATSF.
Jonathon, this is actually about the trademark, which is a little different from copyright. See the little TM next to the logo you are using. Technically you shouldn’t be using that, but everyone here knows that you don’t REPRESENT the railroad, you just LIKE it a lot. If you were selling something you could get into trouble. Of course that is what all the comotion is about, because after all these years UP has suddenly decided to enforce their rights over it’s use.
Thanks everyone, you are proving my point perfectly. Keep the responses coming.
I certainly don’t go out of my way to acquire UP items. I was raised in Southern Illinois so my favorites are still the Illinois Central, Missouri Pacific, Chicago and Eastern Illinois, Nickel Plate, Louisville and Nashville, and other midwestern roads.