Hmmmm–it’s really a Communist Plot. OR: (he said, suspiciously) maybe UP has decided that their rail line doesn’t work and is using the Heritage scheme to alert the public that it’s going to break back down into the original component railroads that it gobbled up (so badly) in the first place.
Heh-heh.
Tom [}:)][}:)]
Selector,
And don’t think you are beyond TRICC’s reach just because you are in Canada. I believe TRICC has some connection with the Illuminati. Nostradamus wrote about it in his “I prefer RC Airplanes” quatranes.
CSmith,
Well, that’s enlightening and good to hear!
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly
I think it goes deeper than that. It is my understanding that there is a group of congressmen that never had model trains as children and thus had become very jealous of those that had. They banded together and formed the Two Rail Independent Congressional Committee (TRICC) and pledged themselves to eliminating model railroading.
The were originally dealt a severe blow when the horn-hook coupler became the defacto standard of HO couplers thus stopping incompatability problems inherant with the numerous couplers that were around in the 50’s. Powerless to do anything about that, they began focusing on anything that would serve to unite model railroaders. Look what happened to Rapido for being daring enough to offer up its N-scale coupler to the industry. Seeing NMRA DCC standards has been a boost to the hobby, TRICC set up MTH as a way to disrupt DCC and sound harmony.
TRICC then worked within the system to further disrupt the hobby. TRICC backing was key to the eased trade restrictions with China, and was the force behind RTR models being imported from China. (It is no coincidence that Washington DC is close to Baltimore - the former HQ of Life Like). One only has to look at the threads here about RTR to see the wedge this has driven into the hobby. TRICC was somewhat taken aback when the hobby seemed to like Life Like’s new image and its owners were then bullied to sell out to Walthers, which as we know will spell doom to that line. Same with the Athearn/Horizon deal.
In exchange for critical votes on Defense bills, TRICC manuevered Congress to pass modifications to the copyright and trademark laws. The goal was to get the railroads themselves to help destroy the hobby. Some railroads refused to play - and met their doom. How else can one explain the PRR/NYC merger which was doomed from the start? Knowing that Santa Fe was model railroading friendly (note - SF paid Lionel to use the warbonnet o
OMG Help!!!
Get the aluminum foil hats!!!
If many other railroads start this, the model manufacturer’s would do well to sell the drive units and the bodies separately. Since the royalty is based on the wholesale price of only the item with the railroad’s logo, and a body costs less than a powered locomotive, well, you do the math.
I think some above have overestimated the cost UP is putting into these paint jobs. These are brand new ACE locomotives. They would be paying to paint them anyway. The only added cost here is for the custom design, which compared to a complete repaint is not so terrible much.
Perhaps my initial word “sinister” was a bit strong. I personally like the new paint jobs. It just seems lilke a long way to go to maintain control over defunct trademarks of non existing railroads, which is UP’s admitted purpose for the project. I think I would concentrate on running a railroad, but that’s just me.
Ron
Good points Antonio, but one thing. CSX doesn’t own the rights to the PRR logo, NS does, because NS got the PRR half of Conrail. CSX could do Conrail, Chessie, B&O, C&O and WM units, in addition to ACL and L&N.
Man! I am soooo glad I model a figment railroad (as in figment of my imagination)… Think of all the money I am saving by buying “undecorated” locos and rolling stock. And, let’s see, the cost of having my own decals printed is very cheap… (What do you mean the minimum order is 250 sheets of decals at $5.00 each? I don’t need 250 sheets of decals. Set up fees, what do you mean set up fees?) Uhm… Never Mind! [}:)][}:)][}:)][:D]
Paying “royalties” for MR stuff doesn’t bother me in the least. What bothers me is going to the store and paying extra to buy a shirt, hat, or other article of clothing that also has a “royalty” attached so I can wear the logo of some company and pay for the privilege of advertising the product. That too me is a “there is one born every minute” award winner.
I wanted to get my [2c] worth of info on this subject. I think that UP painted the Heritage engines and the few CMO hoppers out there because of something I heard on TV. That was that you can’t own a logo or trademark for more than 7 years without using it. Also, I contacted the UP for use of their logos at our local historical society, and they said that for a non-prophit organization I had to fill out a non-prophit form. Just a little info.
Phil