Mike,
Mostly I was trying to have a little fun. Mostly. That and, perhaps, add in a little reminder that we all like what we like, and even those of us who believe we've a good sense of the RR's history and who sometimes get a bit huffy about "non-historical" changes aren't above having personal preferences for no better reason than that they're our personal preferences.
And, BTW, I enjoyed your summary of the history behind the Grande Gold paintjob. I always rather liked the Prospector scheme - it looked great on diesels, and on standard and even NG cars. But I'm one of those who thinks steam locomotives look best in basic black (though dark green ain't half bad), and am, for example, on record with such heresy as the fact that I've never liked the "Daylight" scheme either. I saw a photo some time back of 4449 in basic black on a BN employee appreciation special, and couldn't believe how good it looked.
And then there's the whole fake stack and fake headlight thing. Yep, strange but true - it's fake but it's real.
But we like what we like...
Scott