Model Forum / General / Railroads / June 2004

Brian Ehni

     
Model Railroader Newsletter
June 15, 2004

Breaking News from Model Railroader Magazine

   Horizon Hobby purchases Union Pacific Corporation

   
Union Pacific Corporation, LLC joins Horizon.

     

On June 15, 2004, Horizon Hobby, Inc., announced that it purchased Union
Pacific Corporation, including operating subsidiary Union Pacific Railroad.
Union Pacific Corporation is an Omaha, NB based provider of integrated rail
transportation. The firm¹s corporate operations will be moved to Carson,
Calif., home of Athearn Inc. and Model Die Casting, Inc.; Union pacific
Railroads operating department will continue to be based in Omaha. Tim
Geddes, Athearn¹s president, will oversee the operations of both actual and
model railroad-related product lines.

Geddes is quoted as saying that:

³the merger of Horizon¹z  model trains with the leading full-size
counterpart will, for the first time ever, bring true integration of both
prototype and model rail transportation systems.²

Notwithstanding the current trademark lawsuit between Athearn, and Union
Pacific, Geddes also stated it was

³Simply easier and cheaper to buy Union Pacific than to continue with costly
trademark litigation. Horizon will now control the use of all modern and
historic logos from Union Pacific and constituent railroads, including logos
that are not pictured on the Union Pacific Web Site.²

In addition, Geddes stated that ³commensurate with the high value of the
trademarks, only Horizon¹s model train product lines will have use of Union
Pacific and constituent railroad logos.²  Horizon will not be offering
licenses on Union Pacific¹s trademarks as well as trademarks of predecessor
railroads to the model railroad manufacturing community and that current
licensing agreements with all model railroad manufactures would be
suspended.

Click the following link for a list of SOME of the protected trademarks:

http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/licensing/index.shtml

Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) is one of America's leading
transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific
Railroad, is the largest railroad in North America, covering 23 states
across two-thirds of the United States.   Union Pacific Railroad is an
operating subsidiary of Union Pacific Corporation. It is the largest
railroad in North America, operating in the western two-thirds of the United
States. The railroad serves 23 states, linking every major West Coast and
Gulf Coast port and provides service to the east through its four major
gateways in Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans. Additionally, Union
Pacific operates key north/south corridors and is the only railroad to serve
all six gateways to Mexico. UP also interchanges traffic with the Canadian
rail systems.

The railroad has one of the most diversified commodity mixes in the
industry, including chemicals, coal, food and food products, forest
products, grain and grain products, intermodal, metals and minerals, and
automobiles and parts.

Union Pacific's largest single customer is APL Limited, a steamship company
that operates in the Pacific. Second is General Motors, followed by an
assortment of chemical companies and utilities.

The railroad is the nation's largest hauler of chemicals, much of which
originates along the Gulf Coast near Houston, Texas. Union Pacific is also
one of the largest intermodal carriers ­ that is the transport of truck
trailers and containers.

Having access to the coal-rich Powder River Basin in Wyoming and coal
fields in Illinois, Colorado and Utah, the railroad moves more than 240
million tons of coal annually. It's one of Union Pacific's fastest-growing
business areas. The company is investing millions of dollars annually to add
capacity to handle coal traffic, including new locomotives, and new double
and triple track main lines.

Although Union Pacific Railroad's primary role is transporting freight, it
also runs a substantial commuter train operation in Chicago.

Horizon Hobby is based in Champaign, Ill., and distributes model trains;
radio-controlled cars, planes, and boats; and plastic model kits. The firm
purchased Athearn Inc. on January 5, 2004 and Model Die Casting, Inc on July
14, 2004.

For more information visit Horizon¹s Web site at
http://www.horizonhobby.com/  and Union Pacific¹s Web site at
http://www.uprr.com/

The information above was selected based on preferences you provided at the
time of your registration on Trains.com. If you would like to update your
profile or un-register from any of the Trains.com e-mail  selections, please
log-in here.
<http://www.trains.com/unsubscribe.asp?email=mmercy@ix.netcom.com>
Trains.com Account Information The links above may lead to stories at
Trains.com that call for you to sign in before accessing. For your
convenience, here is your Trains.com account information:
Username: mmercy E-mail: mmercy@ix.netcom.com Copyright 2004 Kalmbach
Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53186

------ End of Forwarded Message

------ End of Forwarded Message