Only on a toy train layout, where the imaginations of modelers can soar to the greatest heights, will you see an SD80MAC road diesel (introduced in 1995) streaking around a triple-track main line bearing the Tuscan Red and gold stripes of the Pennsylvania RR. Why? Because O gauge enthusiasts, including Thomas Kaiser, have no problem operating a beautiful Lionel model (No. 38729 from 2012) decorated for a railroad whose distinguished history ended in 1967, almost three decades before the first full-size SD80MAC left the Electro-Motive shops. Tom, whose layout Caroline Cookman skillfully photographed for Classic Toy Trains, merely shrugs and says fudging the facts of history makes the hobby more fun for him.
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