Train stations, paths and closed rail signals

[Turtle Duck]

With the release of 0.13 i've started a new factory and experiment with it, while working on a smart rail system i thought it might be a good idea to block certain stations in my unloading area.

So i set up a buffer system that would block my station by closing a rail signal when the buffer would reach more than 100k iron in the chests. When i started testing the system if failed miserably, the train would keep trying to reach the preferred station i had named "Iron - Unload" even though his preferred station was closed by a rail signal and had the option to pick 3 other stations with the exact same name.

From my understanding the train wouldn't choose another station from the one it preferred unless it was blocked by a cargo wagon or locomotive so the station would be occupied, this way the train would pick another station rather than the one blocked and at moments it wasn't blocked by an object but rather by a rail signal the train would just sit there trying to enter unable to continue due to the fact the station was blocked by the rail signal.

I'm not sure whether i'm doing it wrong, the rail signals aren't supposed to be used this way or if it's an oversight in the coding but it would be nice if i was able to block or disable a station when a certain situation was reached like the 100k iron in my buffer.

[huwp]

Try this: disconnect the track to that station and tell it to go iron unload. If there's something wrong with your layout you'll get the no-path message. If it makes it to the other stations then that confirms it's an issue with the game.

[Turtle Duck]

Try this: disconnect the track to that station and tell it to go iron unload. If there's something wrong with your layout you'll get the no-path message. If it makes it to the other stations then that confirms it's an issue with the game.

I tryed this out, and after disconnecting the track behind the closed signal the train immediatly switches paths to another available station named Iron unload.

[ssilk]

Intereting, but General is no bug- nor help subforum! Moved to gameplay-help.
If it is a bug it can be moved.
In every case it would be helpful to have the save.

[Miravlix]

I think you're running into one of the "main" problems of same name stations, that the train decide where it's going when it leaves a station and won't change it's mind for a long time.

One of the ways to kinda work around this is to create a "dummy" station close to the same named ones, with a zero second delay before it decides what destination it's going to, it hurts throughput, since the train has to stop/start and creates a double bottleneck that can be complicated to design well.

[Harkonnen604]

Is it possible that train stations with zero waiting time are skipped without loosing speed if further travel in same direction is possible? or by adding new "None" or "Routing" wait condition meaning station is not for loading/unloading but just for routing.

[Fushigidane]

The problem is that the path finder doesn't see signals, only blocks. If you want to control where the train goes you have to close blocks with trains for example like this https://i.redd.it/m0ntdlylxn7x.jpg .

Hopefully it gets changed in 0.14.