• Fallen Flags Licensing

  • This forum is for discussion of "Fallen Flag" roads not otherwise provided with a specific forum. Fallen Flags are roads that no longer operate, went bankrupt, or were acquired or merged out of existence.
This forum is for discussion of "Fallen Flag" roads not otherwise provided with a specific forum. Fallen Flags are roads that no longer operate, went bankrupt, or were acquired or merged out of existence.

Moderator: Nicolai3985

  by ConrailRailfan
 
Hi all, how would I obtain licensing for fallen flag railroads to sell merchandise such as t-shirts and mugs? Not really sure how to go about this.

Thanks!
  by ExCon90
 
One place to start would be to trace the evolution to the successor railroad; likely it also inherited the title to all the rights. When the Save the GG1 Committee had 4935 repainted with pinstripes and keystone, Amtrak required them to obtain permission from Penn Central (which was glad to grant it, fortunately). In the case of a railroad which was liquidated in bankruptcy or abandoned there may be an estate in existence which would still have the rights. Safest course would be to see a lawyer who is up on that aspect of the law.
  by umtrr-author
 
Union Pacific and CSX, at least, have licensing agreements with model railroad item manufacturers. So there would have to be someone to contact at each of those railroads, probably in the legal department.

UP still considers that it owns the rights to all of its previous predecessor railroads, not just the immediate predecessors. I know Micro-Trains Line the best and they have to note which CSX fallen flags are CSX property: in their November 2018 product announcement they cite B&O, SCL, Chessie, C&O, L&N and Western Maryland.
  by scottychaos
 
umtrr-author wrote: I know Micro-Trains Line the best and they have to note which CSX fallen flags are CSX property: in their November 2018 product announcement they cite B&O, SCL, Chessie, C&O, L&N and Western Maryland.
Those are pretty clear because those ancestral railroads were essentially 100% absorbed into today's CSX..no ambiguity.

But it gets weird with the many Conrail roads: LV, Erie, DL&W, EL, RDG, NYC, PRR, PC, LNE, CNJ, L&HR, etc. and of course Conrail itself.
Conrail was split nearly 50/50 between NS and CSX..so who owns all those names today?
that's the tricky question..

Scot
  by mmi16
 
If you can, get a printed copy of the Official Railway Equipment Register - it identifies which current carrier owns the reporting marks from the fallen flag carriers. At one time these were sent out to various railroad Agent Offices and they handed down to a lesser office when the new one was received. Of course that was when the carriers had local agents. With computerization the carriers rely on UMLER (Universal Machine Language Equipment Register). All railcars and locomotives are required to be registered in UMLER. The AAR (Association of American Railroads) would be a good first stop to determine who owns the rights to which reporting marks and iconography.
  by Engineer Spike
 
If you want a definite answer to your question , then you should consult the US Patent and Trademark Office. A simple search can be done, and it will say whether someone holds the trademark still. I looked for the Boston and Maine. Pan Am holds the trademarks of the minuteman logo, as well as the McGinnis version.