Fallen flag
A Fallen Flag is a term used in real railroading (at least in the US) to denote a railroad that is no longer in operation. This could be because it was abandoned, went bankrupt, or was absorbed by another road by merger or purchase. An example of a fallen flag is the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) as it was partner in a merger (with Burlington Northern) to form Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF).
Therefore the herald or logo of the road is no longer in active use (although the successor road sometimes will hold copyright anyway - specifically, in the cases of UP and CSX). A tradition has grown up in the model railroading hobby of using fallen flag heralds as the starting point for developing model railroad club logos that look similar. Several LEGO Train Clubs have embraced this idea as well. Many ILTCO clubs use fallen flags or active roads (NCLTC uses an NS based herald, with permission from NS) heralds. Most of these were developed by John Neal.
External Links
- History behind the MichLTC Logo
