To make it look like a "proper installation" as you say I would suggest splitting the units into 3 separate "rooms/buildings" but that would make a much larger display so taking it to venues for display purposes would be much more difficult, unless it is permanently kept in a box trailer, or your workshop.

I have no knowledge of steam use so leave those questions for others to respond.

Emgee

I'd be very pleased if that was mine Kevin, and it's ideal for showing a working engine boiler to family and friends who don't need to appreciate the finer points. Most people!

For more interest a second kind of model replicates a real installation, which might include a lot of brickwork, a condenser, feed-water heating, bunkers and a factory chimney, giving a proper sense of men shovelling coal, pulling levers, and maintaining the engine and whatever it was powering. Waste steam would be fed through a larger pipe. I've seen everything between simple impressionist engine rooms and photo-realistic authenticity. They all work for me! Most of the audience can be wowed with a relatively simple model, but real men seek to impress experts armed with magnifying glasses. A danger with really good models is of detail being overlooked and unappreciated simply because the quality can't be taken in at a glance.

For me the very best models add something beyond normal presentation. Cherry Hill does it by researching and modelling unusual prototypes with immense attention to detail. Another way is to add value with an unusual take on the subject. Many modellers go for pristine, whereas highly polished installations were rather rare in the heyday of steam. Leaks, loose brickwork, patched up gear, dirt everywhere, painted black, poorly lit and with a general air of neglect would be more typical. Models representing tatty industrial reality pull my chain, whilst others prefer gleaming brass and cowboy films with no horse poo anywhere. It's all good.

Dave

If you are running it for any length of time you will be suprised by how much water condenses out on its way to the chimney. Even then where do you think it goes. And that steam oil does not stay in the cylinder. In fact it is a little known fact that steam oil is strongly magnetic and the opposite pole to which it is attracted is white cloth, especially if worn by a woman. So yes, fit an oil trap asap.

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