Re: 478 green jacket wars

The issue of restoring equipment to represent its historical configuration is one that should not be taken lightly. What troubles me is when a restored piece of equipment gets additional paint and such that is not part of any historical precedent or does not fit the time period that the restoration was intended to represent. Now if there are some current FRA requirements that supercede historical paint, lettering or details then that is understandable. If the current “custodians” do not take a rigorous approach to getting colors, paint application, and lettering correct to the historical reference(s) then over time we will see a gradual erosion of what is prototypically correct and future generations will be left with subjective adaptations of history.

I do understand and respect an individual owner’s right to decorate and embellish a locomotive or equipment to serve its current purpose. For those organizations that do not have a “benevolent dictator” calling the shots I am wondering how specifications & changes from the historical reference are documented and 2. How alterations from the historical reference are rationalized and 3. how this all plays out in artifacts that are considered historically significant examples.