Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

I had a brief job many-many years ago working in some American steam plants that provided water, power &  light. By the latter time period I worked at the sites , only one large Corliss remained, but numerous electric generators and pumps from as early as 1910 onwards still worked . The flooring was almost universally a hard terra-cotta colored glazed square tiles with black grout. I remember this because I saw so much grease ,oil, and water spills on the floors and yet after 80 years the floor's still looked really good. Bases where most former old steam engines were empty, but they were always a concrete plinth painted either grey  or the  same color as the old motor-pump-engine that sat so long on the base. The reason being that over decades of painting, the workers would sometimes slop accidental motor/engine paint onto the plinth and it looked better to finish the raw concrete in that color. No porous brick near any of the engines as it would stain and soak up greases pretty easy, so ceramic or hard glazed tile was standard. Finally, somewhere near the old engine base there was always a cast iron or brass covered drain in the floor. I am still amazed that a steam & machine rooms that had so much work done in it held up so well to the test of time with so little structural or cosmetic changes. My opinion is the model  steam-engine room red and white tiles sure look good; but in hard working actual plant , a red tile,  or mix of dark red & black or red & greens on a floor would last cleaner decades longer. Just a bit of trivia 

(I seen model displays that used antique scraps of old linoleum as bases , or simply color printed doll-house patterns overlaid in clear epoxies or varnish for side backdrop or floors )

http://www.jennifersprintables.com/woodandbricksamples.html

http://www.jennifersprintables.com/floorssample.html

http://www.jennifersprintables.com/bathroomsamples.html