Model railroad hobbyists used to be sticklers for prototype accuracy. The models had to match the prototype exactly, and long discussions would ensue among hobbyists regarding such matters as the proper style of headlamp on this or that type of steam engine, or the proper shade of paint for certain rail cars. But, hobbyists would be more fanatical fans of certain railroads, more fanatical than baseball fans.
And so, we now have model companies offering models of up to the minute locomotives painted for railroads that went out of business generations ago. Truly fantasy modeling.
My latest copy of Model Railroader contains an ad for ultra modern GM and GE diesel locomotives painted in the tuscan-with-five-gold stripes scheme of the Pennsylvania RR and the green and cream scheme of the Erie RR. Both the Pennsy and the Erie went out of business in the 1960's. The locomotive models didn't go into production until the 1990s. Talk about anachronisms. Oh well, its a hobby.
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