The question came up in the UP Trackage Rights thread in MSTS forum, but I don't think was really answered. I know that logos of defuct railroads are for the most part public domain, but those of current railroads are not and are protected by the railroads. I know in the context of a model the logo is not being used in any way that should hurt the railroad - in fact I would wager that there are many, many factory produced and painted models in the corprate offices of all of today's railroads. There are examples of companies asking model manufactuers to stop reproducing their logos (Chessie in the past and one of the highway trailer companies of recent times) - is this more common than we hear about?
In some cases. the railroads furnish the model manufacturers with painting diagrams and color photographs in hopes that the manufacturer will make models in their road name. At least some short lines do. How to you think Micro-Trains got the information to make Apalachicola Northern boxcars? I sent it to them when I was the Director, Marketing and Sales for the AN. In my capacity as traffic manager for the paper mill, I received an HO BN SD40-2, NS SD40-2, CSXT GP38-2, and a CSXT "Big Blue" boxcar, all mounted on display bases. The BN was the nicest, with additional details and correctly painted handrails with a plaque with my name and company. Railroads look at models as good public relations.
