Dr. George Sokol, train lover and at this time medical student. While in Virginia, found Southern 1401 being prepped for delivery to the Smithsonian Institution.
And what do we do with a steam locomotive with delicate moving parts, bushings and journals? We sand blast it. Not what the doctor ordered, but here's the proof.

Southern had saved two other green and gold PS4's, but couldn't give them away. Consequently, they were gone by the time George took these images.

Photo credit George Sokol, my collection.

I had several first person conversations with one of the local auto body employees who painted SR 1401 in the yard in Alexandria. I do not recall if he mentioned sand blasting. Doug showed me a group photo taken with the locomotive after painting was complete. Sadly we’ve lost contact.

~Wesley

As I recall, when they painted Northern AT&SF 2912 in Pueblo, CO around ten years ago, they used a slurry mixture containing garnet or something similar and a high pressure water pump to blast off the paint. The finished job looked good, but before I needed to move it one inch I would be sure to disassemble every moving part on it and clean them. https://pueblorailway.org/roster/atsf-2912/

Southern Pacific 4-8-4 4460 was sandblasted and painted some years ago at the Museum of Transportation.
I think it's been moved over the years.
Makes you grit your teeth.