Changed my mind

I would go with the black 400E. Black will work with anything but those cars would look great behind it!

Chris,

Thanks for the reply! Brass bands or black bands?

Sunrise

You lost me? You mean bands on the engine?

Chris,

Yes, the bands on the engine.

Brass!  Brass on black stands out nice. Kind of like crome on a black car!

I agree with the black 400E. Black is the new black. I'm in the process of painting a repro 381E gloss black and I think it will go nicely with a State set in Hiawatha colors. The Milwaukee Road thought so too; the Bi-Polars were black until after WWII and they looked just fine pulling a string of heavyweights. 

The bands and domes on the 400E are actually copper, not brass. I think brass would look better, and one of these days I'm tempted to strip the lacquer coating off the bands on one of my copper-banded black steamers and redo them in brass with one of those do-it-yourself plating kits. Unfortunately, that is nowhere near the top of a very long to-do list.