Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

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M0rgenstern
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Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by M0rgenstern »

Hey there,

Long time reader in this forum, this is my first post now.
I love this game and put already a lot of hours into it.

With the newest Update I find using trains really convenient, but I have one problem:
I want to make sure that none of my trains runs out of fuel. So I built a station where a train full with coal is unloaded and all trains stop there and they are loaded with coal.
The problem I am facing here is, that either I need to add this station manually to each train every few hours or I need to schedule all trains for this station all the time.
So for example I have a train with the schedule:
  • Copper Mine
    Copper Smelting
    Train Fueling
Which means, that each "round" the train will go to the fueling station. Obviously this is unnecessary and delays the delivery of the actual materials.

So my question is:
Is there a way to make a train go to a station only if a ceratin condition is met (e.g. being low on fuel)? Or is it possible to tell a train to go to a certain station only in a certain interval, like for example every 30 minutes?
If neither the one nor the other is possible: Has someone another solution to this problem? I would be really glad if someone could help me out with this issue.

Thank in advance and kind regards,
M0rgenstern

Kelderek
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by Kelderek »

That's a very good question and I'm not sure if it is possible with signals like you're asking, but I can tell you how I go about dealing with train fuel.

The solution will depend a lot on how you design your factory.

Instead of bringing your trains to the fuel supply, have you considered bringing the fuel to your train stations instead? When I design my train layout I have a handful of stations that are for unloading raw resources like coal, iron, copper and full oil barrels. These stations are close enough to each other that I can just run some belts from where the coal train unloads to pass along where the engines will be at their stops. You could also use logistic bots for this too. Either way you have a box beside each engine position at the main unloading stations containing fuel to automatically refuel any train that stops there. There is no need to do this at your outposts, you only need to do it at one station for each train.

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M0rgenstern
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by M0rgenstern »

Hey,

Thank you. This is actually the way I went in a previous save, but I thought having a refill station would be cleaner.
So I will just do it the same way again. Still hoping something like this will be possible in some future update.

Kind regards

Kelderek
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by Kelderek »

It is my understanding that more advanced train station connectivity to the circuit network is coming in later updates. I think at the moment all you can do is alter the wait conditions, but I haven't messed with that yet.

EDIT: also, I think it would always be best to have fuel access at stations where your trains visit regularly, like unloading stations, instead of sending your trains to refueling depots. I just think it scales much better to use belts the way I have. Imagine if you have a ton of trains and they all need to take extra time to go grab fuel - it seems like that would add extra traffic on your rail lines that can easily be avoided and it would decrease the efficiency of their usual delivery routes.

drmason13
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by drmason13 »

I'd agree about the refuelling strategy, but it's also worth pointing out that the essence of the question: "Can trains automatically adjust their schedule?" is a very interesting one.

At the moment it isn't built into the game as a circuit network controlled feature (only wait conditions so far).

This should come in sooner or later, but there are a few tricks that could tide us over. One (quite old) trick is to have stations with identical names. Trains will go to whichever station is free when its on their schedule.

Since 0.13 we can change signals, giving us a cool way to turn stations on and off. Say you have 2 iron unloading stations. One main one, and a second one for peak demand. You could have a signal leading into the second station set to red unless you are running low on iron. Then trains will start using both stations, not just 1.

You could use this to "switch" which stations are used, switching the signals in front of stations with the same name. The major drawback unfortunately is that these changes affect all trains using the stations. I haven't a clue how to affect schedules for individual trains...

I hope this gives someone a good idea!

Shokubai
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by Shokubai »

I did a train game with a refueling station before 13 and my orders looked like this...

Place A
Place B
Place A
Place B
Place A
Place B
Place A
Place B
Refuel

I would change the frequency based on the train's travel distance.

Typically I have two methods of fueling though.

1) I set up a refuel train that carries coal and drops off small amounts at each station (600 or so). Trains don't use much generally.

2) Trains that come in contact with coal bearing stations pickup coal in a couple of train slots and return that coal to their other station. I then unload that coal and move it to other trains and engines at those stations. It seems complex but it really isn't and because coal is used so minimally it doesn't take up much cargo space if you limit to your need and avoid oversupply.

Kelderek
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by Kelderek »

drmason13 wrote:I'd agree about the refuelling strategy, but it's also worth pointing out that the essence of the question: "Can trains automatically adjust their schedule?" is a very interesting one.

At the moment it isn't built into the game as a circuit network controlled feature (only wait conditions so far).

This should come in sooner or later, but there are a few tricks that could tide us over. One (quite old) trick is to have stations with identical names. Trains will go to whichever station is free when its on their schedule.

Since 0.13 we can change signals, giving us a cool way to turn stations on and off. Say you have 2 iron unloading stations. One main one, and a second one for peak demand. You could have a signal leading into the second station set to red unless you are running low on iron. Then trains will start using both stations, not just 1.

You could use this to "switch" which stations are used, switching the signals in front of stations with the same name. The major drawback unfortunately is that these changes affect all trains using the stations. I haven't a clue how to affect schedules for individual trains...

I hope this gives someone a good idea!
That's an interesting idea. It reminds me of two-lane on ramps for highways in a busy metropolitan area that use alternating signals during rush hour to limit the rate that cars can enter the highway. I can envision having a timer made with combinators that cycles signals between two stations so that they get equal use. I have noticed that with two same named stations when it is not very busy trains will always use the same one, probably based on a short path, but there might be advantages to forcing trains to alternate between them.

Harkonnen604
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by Harkonnen604 »

1. You can use a train that delivers coal from central hub everywhere like once an hour

2. You can turn refuelling station on for 5 minutes once every 20 minutes and have it on every train schedule.

3. You can have requester chests with coal at main hub. For trains that never visit main hub you still need some coal at every outpost, just deliver it along with repair packs, walls and other stuff.

thewickedtyrant
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by thewickedtyrant »

Hey I made a dynamic system using Combinators, here is a video explaining how to use it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFbLYuSGBKY
the blueprints are in the description and i hope it serves you well, Its also in its first stage so if you find any bugs let me know so i can fix them and re update the system.

zOldBulldog
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Re: Trains - Scheduled Station only on demand/interval

Post by zOldBulldog »

I personally like to feed my trains at their stops by my base.

If I build my trains early, I feed them with coal as in the 2nd post. If I build my trains late (or I am ready to upgrade) I use requester chests and feed them rocket fuel.

Nothing is cleaner than one requester chest and one inserter while it is already loading/unloading.

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