Stopping train delivers for overloaded ore processing

[MichaelG7355]

I have been working with trains, watching tutorials, etc. I finally figured out how to get my trains properly signaled (no more crashes) and have now achieved having two trains share the parking site that serves two unloading stations, and deliver ore to the unloading stations with no problems. However, because the unloading station is directly feeding the processing (steel) site (I have 10 smelter setups with two unloading sites each feeding 5 of the lines separately which works fairly well, but the processing is becoming backed up and not all of the product is being unloaded at the unloading station. What I would like to learn which I have not seen in any tutorial is how do you get the train to just wait in the parking area until the unloading site becomes less backed up, or turn off the particular train station of the overloaded site automatically. I am using the stable version of 16. I know that some kind of circuits will be needed but I'm still kind of like a dim bulb when it comes to setting that up. Any suggestions or link to a tutorial that would answer this perplexing issue would be most helpful. Thanks in advance to any and all who choose to respond.

[wobbycarly]

You can turn the station off by linking all the chests to each other with a wire of the same color, then linking that same color wire to the station. On the station, choose "Enable/Disable" and select iron ore/iron plates > "x" amount (based on the volume in your chests). That'll disable the station and (depending on your parking lot signals!!) will stop the train in the parking lot.

[Bushdoctor]

Hello Michael,

I think it's not the trains causing your problem, but the way you combined Unloading and Processing into a single section (more or less).

I'm sure you noticed that the problem occurs because belts get fed by the inserters that are last in line. Whether they unload from chests or steel smelters, the ones at the back are the first ones to drop their item on the belt, and the ones further down the line will 'back up' because they can't drop their item on a full belt. THAT is your actual problem, right?

That is why most players prefer to unload their trains into chests, not directly into their smelters. That shifts your problem area to the chests, where you have an opportunity to correct it. Most players experience your problem as an 'imbalance' in their chests, which leads to the problem of a train emptying one wagon, but not the other one. That is the symptom of the problem, not the cause, but it is what you were referring to, right?

Now, trains should never leave a station if they're not completely empty. Which means that other trains behind it will have no option but to wait at the parking area that you build. Sure that still leaves the problem of trains having to wait forever because one of their wagons is still half full, but if you solve the cause of that problem, the trains should behave exactly as you want them to, which is to wait until the station becomes accessible again. (The criteria should not be: 'when the station stops from being backed up').

If you're working with trains that unload into chests, there are several ways you can try to adjust the imbalance that will occur. Most people try to solve it with splitters and belts, trying to keep the flow equal from all chests. Others move on to using a combinator that looks at all the chests and unloads from the ones that have most content. (I have tried that, and it helped, but didn't work for the full 100%). Then there's a mod called Equalizer Chests that basically does what it says: When chests are touching, their content gets equalized/balanced. Works great. Personally I have switched to using warehouses instead of chests (a mod by angel) with a combinator that balances the content of those warehouses. - In any case, if you solve the imbalance that occurs from unloading from chests at a station, it doesn't matter that some of your smelters get backed up or not, as long as they produce a full belt, you're good. And as long as your stations get balanced, your trains will behave exactly as you want/programmed them.

So, it kind of depends what direction you want to go. If you want to hang on to your setup where you unload directly into your smelters, you probably need to balance the output of those smelters in order for your trains to unload properly and for them to keep moving properly (again I would advice to never let one leave if it's not completely empty).. And if you want to switch to unloading into chests, then there's different approaches to balancing those...

In any case: Happy gaming man!
Good luck.

[Trebor]

Hello Michael,

I think it's not the trains causing your problem, ...

In any case: Happy gaming man!
Good luck.

Really nice write up Bushdoctor.