Having been worked in or otherwise been associated with railroad management from 1959 to 1984, I'd like to say something about how repainting actually works.
I've heard of few, if any, cases of equipment being taken out of service for repainting. That was part of shop programs. A group of locomotives went to the back shop for major repairs. If the paint was in bad condition, part of the shop program was painting. Same for cars. Few railroads wasted money on painting simply because there was a new paint scheme. That would not be good management.
This doesn't apply to changing reporting marks. That could be done on any rip track with access to a paint spry gun and a template.
