"wouldn't it be cool if i could stack trains with different lengths in a single stacker?"
I looked on factorioprints... and then the forums... but I wasn't able to find anything about this.
I wanted a stacker with these characteristics:
- it must be vanilla
- it must reliably stack two train lengths (with "short" trains being half as long as "long" trains)
- It must have no embed train stops
- it must not have combinators between two tracks; all combinators must be grouped together
Countless hours later, I came up with this.
(click the picture to go to the factorioprints page)
It's a modular design for a stacker that does just what i wanted. which is:
If the incoming train is short, it will be routed to a lane with another short train in it. (if there is one)
If the incoming train is long, it will be routed to an empty lane only. (or wait for a lane to clear)
You can set it to have as many lanes as you want (within reason) and to be as long as you want.
I provided blueprints for some track lengths, but if you want longer track lengths i've also included some building blocks to make your own... building blocks.
Additional info can be found on the factorioprints page.
(also related, the "HOW I CAME TO THIS CONCLUSION" spoiler in this thread)
Here is a picture with a possible configuration.
Now, I have yet to write a thorough text-/picture-based guide on how to use the blueprints.
it takes a lot of time for me to do this kind of things. For right now i've just made a video in which i explain how to combine the blueprints together; you can check it out over here.
I also try to explain how the circuit works, but i'm bad at doing that. For a detailed explanation... you'll have to wait for the text guide. (If i'm lucky it's gonna be out in 12 hours.)
So... yeah. Isn't it cool? I think it's cool.
Feedback, suggestions, bug reports and all that stuff will be appreciated.
Also, have you ever seen anything like this before? If that is the case, please let me know!