TRAIN SIGNALS PLS HELP

[Greyfell309]

Hi, please look at this junction, and tell me why did the train stopped? each line is two way, every trains has 2 locomotives. After trying every single combination possible, normal, chain signals, everything i can think off, i come to the same problem, the train enters the junction but never exits. I watched a dozen of tutorials on ytube, readed forums, nothing helps. The train just wont exit the junction. http://imgur.com/wVL9UbX

[impetus maximus]

welcome to the forums.

we need to see what is after the train. a train is occupying the next 'block'.
also you should be using chain signals before and in intersections, followed by regular signals after.

[Greyfell309]

there is only one single train on each line, and that very train just stops in the middle of the junction. here is a picture of the train stop, but that's all there is on each line. a train and two stations. and like i said, every singe combination of normal and chain signals is the same result. http://imgur.com/NVe2dHI

[iceman_1212]

If you change all of the pictured signals to chain signals (from rail signals) the train will stop before the intersection (but make sure you have rail signals farther along each track).

Two way tracks are difficult to scale (as you may find out shortly). You might like to try a pair of one-way tracks that serve as a backbone of your rail network (a track in each direction), with paths branching off to stations.

[Greyfell309]

Well, never mind, i tried a brute force aproach and it worked. What i did is spam every junction in the network with signals. ))) Not i can finally remove the roboports wich were informing me of train crashes. Thx for the reply, didn't expect someone to answer that quick, not at this hour.

[iceman_1212]

No problem, a lot of us are in the US, ~6-8 hours behind the forum's displayed time zone.

Now i can finally remove the roboports wich were informing me of train crashes.

[Greyfell309]

BTW, i have about 600 MK2 robots and i want to upgrade all to MK3, do you know how i can manage that? Because none of them are in the roboports...

[iceman_1212]

What do you mean that they're not in the roboports? Do you mean they're not in the logistic network (i.e., logistic chests) but in the roboports themselves?

If so, then you can use filter inserters to pull out mk2 robots from the roboport itself into a passive provider chest, and can set up a requester chest somwhere that feeds into an assembly machine that upgrades from mk2 to m3. Can then set up requesters for roboports all over your base to request mk3s which get fed back into the system.

[Greyfell309]

I mean the robots are flying all over the base, and a can't collect them all, unless i want to remove every requester chest on the base, which i can not, since there are more than 50... Is there a command i can give to all my robots to stop any work and return to their roboports so i can pick them up?

[Engimage]

Trying to answer your questions in order.
Regarding signals. You have to understand what signals actually do. They separate your rail network into independent blocks. So if rails do touch one another they are considered a single block and signals are like scissors which divide them.
When a train occupies a block all signals entering this block become red effectively preventing other trains from entering the same block. You can see what block a particular rail piece belongs by mousing over it - it will say the number of the block.

The chain signals in addition to the default behaviour will also become red if the next normal signal on a train path is red. This is effectively used on junctions to prevent a train even entering the junction if the exit line is busy. This is crucial to prevent intersection deadlocks. So remember a simple rule - all signal within a complex intersections should be chain signals, apart from ones on the exits. If you have a single 2-way line this also applies so you got to have a normal signal on the way out and a paired chain signal on the way in. And a complex intersection is any intersection combo where distance between crossings is less than your train length.

So on your screenshot we can see that the signal before your train is red which means that there is a train on that block (which we could not see). While there was no obvious reason for that on the screenshot, rails might intersect later somewhere with another line where another train is.

Remember that any rails touching one another are considered a single block no matter if they are connected or they do intersect.

As for the robots - you got to stop your logistic activity to make them dock. You can do it multiple ways.
1. Replace requester chests with storage ones to prevent requests. Bad thing as this will clear their setup so you will need to redo it later.
2. Replace provider chests with common steel chests to stop item provision.
3. Disconnect/rotate inserters filling provider chests to stop provision
4. Remove some roboports to disconnect logistic network between providers/requesters to stop bot requests.

Any of these actions will make bots idle and they will dock at available roboports.

Bear in mind that it is a good practice to place normal signals along all rails every (like a big pole distance). You can see on most videos how big poles are placed between two lines and there are signals around it. However this makes sense only if you have multiple trains and not 2-way one track solutions.

[Greyfell309]

Wow, what a nice reply, thank you for your time!