Self Adhesive Lettering

When the 463 was redone as 455 for an excursion a year or so back, part of the deal to get it done was to replace the 463's decals. The heralds turned out great, but there is something wrong with the numerals. Bill Lund went to extreme measures to make sure the 455's used were as authentic as possible when the disquise was applied.
Anyone who has ever hand lettered a locomotive knows how long it takes to do it, and the results may not be what you wanted. Besides, it often causes a build-up of paint that would make it more difficult to cover with something else, and some of the "real" lettering may peel away as a self adhesive cover is removed.
Don't forget this is the first year since I don't remember when that the equipment is actually all lettered Rio Grande. In the past, some of the engines were always in C&TS livery.
My peeve with the self adhesive lettering isn't that it isn't paint, it's that it isn't white.
I know there is a controversy over when the D&RGW went to white lettering instead of alumunum, but by the 60's when I saw all that stuff it was undeniably white, and so was every trace of lettering left on engines that had been set aside for many years.
When we painted 491 and 499's tender at the Museum in Golden, I found no evidence of aluminum paint anywhere.