[Explanation] Why we don't see some railroads in RSC DLC

[up_8677]

A lot of people "in the know" on railroad.net seem to say BNSF and CN are the better places to work these days. Could be a healthy dose of personal opinion on their part though.

[Chessie8638]

I looked more into Conrail trademark cause I'm bored and have nothing better to do right now..

Trademark search: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=t ... 8i2c54.1.1


Search Word: Conrail

Found: 3

All are still active (LIVE).

Owner: (REGISTRANT) Consolidated Rail Corporation CORPORATION PENNSYLVANIA 2001 MARKET STREET 16TH FLOOR Philadelphia PENNSYLVANIA 19103
Different address then what's on Conrail.com: 1717 Arch Street. Philadelphia, PA 19103

[SCLJim]

A lot of people "in the know" on railroad.net seem to say BNSF and CN are the better places to work these days. Could be a healthy dose of personal opinion on their part though.

During my time with CSX I worked a lot jobs in and out of a BNSF yard. Needless to say, the atmosphere in their yard was completely different than ours. Those guys were so laid back and easy going and I absolutely loved it. Their yard was the only one I ever worked in and out of that had a utility man on duty. Very seldom did I have to make my own cuts or double over, though I never minded when I did.

I remember one night they told us to cut our power off and take it to the shop. Neither of us was familiar on how to get to the shop from the west end of the yard so I promptly informed the yardmaster and he just said "thats ok, we'll get ya there. Just head through the crossover in front of you, then back east, take the first switch to the right.... I'll watch you and if you head the wrong way we'll get ya straight."

Hmmm, the only negative thing I can think of, working in and out of their yard, was the rats. They looked big enough to carry you off.

[up_8677]

I like pet rats fine...but not those big ones that grow wild!!

The general opinion that I've seen is that CSX and NS are pretty harsh in the way they apply their rules. True?

[Chessie8638]

!*roll-laugh*!

I like pet rats fine...but not those big ones that grow wild!!

The general opinion that I've seen is that CSX and NS are pretty harsh in the way they apply their rules. True?

NS has a system of "Double Checking." Railfan any NS line with a scanner and that's all you hear near a yard. "Double check the handbrake." "Double check those hand throws." And so on. NS hasn't won the E. H. Harriman Award (outstanding safety achievements) 21 years in a row for nothing (IMO the Harriman award was / is BS).

As for CSX... They recently passed a rule in which employees can't climb onto cars to apply the handbrake. I witnessed this first hand in Clifton Forge, VA (while railfanning with a friend who works for a railroad that interchanges with CSX). You had one guy looking up car numbers, one controlling the remote control units with the belt pack, and another with a 3 foot metal pole turning the handle brake wheel on the cars. Mean while they all have their backs turned while the remote controlled units (about a 1/4 mile away) shoved cars at them. I should have recorded it, because it's almost impossible to believe.
As for the friend who interchanges with CSX... CSX uses the same pole technique to interchange and it takes so long that his RR employees just go onto the cars and apply the handbrake themselves.




I like how this went from trademark / copyright to railroad safety and working for one.
Time to lock and or remove the stuff about trademarks / copyrights and move the rest to "The Jungle" with a new name.

[DonR]

The problem with the trademark permissions? Lawyers. I wonder if the PR dept could assist... it does promote a positive image/relationship to the public, albeit we are a reasonably small community.

Don.

[arizonachris]

I like how this went from trademark / copyright to railroad safety and working for one.
Time to lock and or remove the stuff about trademarks / copyrights and move the rest to "The Jungle" with a new name.

No, don't lock it! I love this stuff! Move it to "The Jungle" but don't lock it! This is interesting stuff!

[Hawk]

Let's just keep it on topic. No more discussion about working for the railroads.

[Kali]

NS and CSX have PC/PRR and NYC marks respectively, but does anyone know who holds copyright for logos and so on? do any of them still exist as corporate entities? I could find out if they were english, but I'm not sure where one would check in the US.

There are some old BR-owned trademarks which the govt owns here & get licensed to the TOCs, and then some imagery is public domain ( and some have gone a bit beyond their original design purposes ). Can get really confusing.

[Chessie8638]

NS and CSX have PC/PRR and NYC marks respectively, but does anyone know who holds copyright for logos and so on? do any of them still exist as corporate entities? I could find out if they were english, but I'm not sure where one would check in the US.

The Conrail deal is a bit confusing. NS owns Conrail and its reporting marks. At the CR split NS got the PRR and CR marks. CSX had to remark the stuff they got with NYC reporting marks.
As for the modern day terminal Conrail it's shared 50/50. If not then the 58% (NS) - 42% (CSX) from the actual split in 1999.

NS doesn't own or use the NYC marks. And CSX doesn't own or use the PRR marks. At the Conrail split NS got the PRR and CR marks. And CSX got the NYC.
- But why does NS have a NYC heritage locomotive?
Just because it has NYC paint doesn't make it have NYC marks. On paper it's still NS 1066.
If NYC (and presumably New York Central is trademarked) is a CSX reporting mark, how can they use it?
The name New York Central isn't trademarked and or copyrighted under the CSX 'Trademark Licensing.'

As far as I'm concerned modern day terminal switching (maybe Class I) Conrail name and logo belong to http://www.conrail.com/

CSX. Seaboard Coast Line. Chessie. Atlantic Coast Line. Seaboard Air Line. Baltimore & Ohio. Chesapeake& Ohio. Louisville & Nashville. Clinchfield. Western Maryland: http://www.csx.com

Norfolk Southern. Pennsylvania. Southern. Norfolk & Western. Lehigh Valley. Reading. Central Railroad of New Jersey. Monongahela. Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway. Central of Georgia. Alabama Great Southern Railroad. Possibly Conrail: http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/


Anyhoo, reporting marks aren't trademarked, it's just the use of the name and logo(s).

[NickF]

I remember back in the early days of MSTS (2001) Union Pacific was being very hard-core about the whole copyright/trademark thing. Their lawyers were send cease and desist letters to freeware content creators who were uploading repaints with UP-related content. Since they also owned the rights to the D&RGW, SP, SSW, etc, material it put a bunch of things off-limits to repainters.

And UP wouldn't even discuss licensing with people who asked. Said it was to "protect the use and representation of our intellectual property."

BNSF, on the other hand, basically said, "Go for it."

[SpeedbumpJoey]

I remember back in the early days of MSTS (2001) Union Pacific was being very hard-core about the whole copyright/trademark thing. Their lawyers were send cease and desist letters to freeware content creators who were uploading repaints with UP-related content. Since they also owned the rights to the D&RGW, SP, SSW, etc, material it put a bunch of things off-limits to repainters.

And UP wouldn't even discuss licensing with people who asked. Said it was to "protect the use and representation of our intellectual property."

BNSF, on the other hand, basically said, "Go for it."

That is such an idiotic line. Do they not realize that people involved in train simming, model railroading, railfanning, etc. are some of their biggest supporters and are extremely knowledgeable? No. But, others have recognized that and others are changing their minds. Slowly but surely fellas!

[PamBrooker]

The same exact thing happens in flight simulation. You will see lots of planes that looke like cessna's, but unless the developer has paid a hefty fee for licensing, you will never see the name. Even freeware developers have had cessna corporation come down on them big time for using their logo.. The same applies to Gulfstream corporation which will not even sell a license to anyone..

[NickF]

I remember back in the early days of MSTS (2001) Union Pacific was being very hard-core about the whole copyright/trademark thing. Their lawyers were send cease and desist letters to freeware content creators who were uploading repaints with UP-related content. Since they also owned the rights to the D&RGW, SP, SSW, etc, material it put a bunch of things off-limits to repainters.

And UP wouldn't even discuss licensing with people who asked. Said it was to "protect the use and representation of our intellectual property."

BNSF, on the other hand, basically said, "Go for it."

That is such an idiotic line. Do they not realize that people involved in train simming, model railroading, railfanning, etc. are some of their biggest supporters and are extremely knowledgeable? No. But, others have recognized that and others are changing their minds. Slowly but surely fellas!

I agree. UP also voiced objections to the sim itself. They felt that by showing people how the basic cab controls worked it would encourage people to steal trains!

[micaelcorleone]

(...) But, others have recognized that and others are changing their minds. Slowly but surely fellas!

Fortuantely, UP has changed its mind, while some others seem to be still very narrow-minded *cough* CSX *cough*.