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I forgot to mention that there are emulators out there. I have never used one but here's one from a quick google search: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_(emulator)

When I was in school, IBM occasionally had z/OS programming contests and would provide an environment for student competitors.

Hercules is cool -- I last goofed around with it almost 10 years ago, but it was complete enough then to run VM/370 and MVS/370. If you're interested, start here: http://www.cbttape.org/vm6.htm and http://www.bsp-gmbh.com/turnkey/