Many years ago, Rick, as a member of a railroad interest club at university, I met a former member of a famous railroad restoration effort who had quit over just this issue. It seems they had a access to a very reasonably priced source of paint which was really close to a color used on a lot of their historic equipment, but not 'exact". So instead of painting a lot of equipment with their limited funds, they went for a "perfect" match and painted only a little. I've always wondered how much equipment ended up as scrap over that decision. And the group lost a very practical and motivated professional railroader.
This whole discussion I believe is very critical. If anything is to carry on, it must be both enjoyable (or everyone finds something else to do) and geared toward the overall survival of both the equipment
and the group which acts as custodian. Historical veracity is for some an enjoyable target to which to aspire, i.e. a fun game to play. But there are many ways to play and the more involved the merrier. And it is only one game. Thomas and the Polar Express have only recent history but into how many operations are they breathing life? And everywhere I find young people to whom they were the entry point.
I finally reached Edaville only after virtually all the historic equipment had been hauled back to Maine. But for many I met the only reality of two foot railroading was a trip as a family around a Massachusetts cranberry bog operation which had no "historic" context for the equipment, and which ultimately created more history than the original "history" in Maine. And kept the equipment alive for how many in Maine to do more "historic" things?
Anyone can nitpick. But it's a whole lot more productive (and fun) to find ways to encourage efforts!
Timothy