----------A Salty and Cynical Point of View Warning------
Current IP laws aside, I do think any non-negative publicity is good publicity. I think railroads these days do have a PR problem. From massively delaying passenger trains, old stations being abandoned to ruin despite protected heritage status, blocking rural intersections for the better part of an hour, issues with safety records (see any place with a hazardous goods spill), to abandoning branchlines like its going out of style (and the towns that relied on it)..... its no wonder some folks actively campaign against the rails.
There should be a certain level of "reasonableness" when it comes to artistic license. Wish it was more of a "make or lose it" scenario, or just much more streamlined to get a license (as brand integrity can be an issue):
- Random sellers making Union Pacific hats? Possible issue, but something UP should be doing if not already,
- Making complicated models with long dead railway names? Hard to see an issue unless UP is salty they didn't use the UP roadname? Hard to harm brand integrity there...
- Complicated models celebrating modern railways? Hard to replicate, and too much of a nuisance for the likes of UP to produce instead.
The front lines of every railroads PR used to be passenger trains to show off the efficiency and usefulness to the general public, but those days are long gone. At this point, a railway screaming "brand Integrity!!!" might prompt some dispirited folks to answer "what integrity?", unless its a heritage railway of course....
------------------------ End of a salty point-of-view -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the lighter side is a random amusing British article from a few years ago touching on 'railroading popularity':
