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Train based warehouse (HIGH throughput, no bots)

https://forums.factorio.com/viewtopic.php?f=202&t=49684

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Train based warehouse (HIGH throughput, no bots)

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:49 pm
by BrickNukem
Hey everyone,

I see many people trying to figure out how to do efficient storage and buffering. I want to showcase a solution I and my friend came up with:

Image

See it in action: https://gfycat.com/UnawareNiceFluke

To get high throughput, we had to solve a little problem. Train tracks are spaced in 2x2 blocks, and an inserter+chest is also 2 blocks. That means that if we alternated between inserter and chest, we would end up with a chest next to the train. Long handed inserters and belts are very slow, so we needed to break the pattern with a container with an even side length. We almost gave up until we found the following trick (we are probably not the first, but we haven't seen it anywhere):



With this trick we can load and unload trains at the max speed of 24 stack inserters (I will let you guys do the numbers). We call these things hubs, and we have many of them for different products. Advantages we enjoy from this:
-Decoupled production and consumption of common products (publish/subscribe pattern). We don't have to change the routes of consuming trains when production is scaled up or moved.
-Simple and timely indication of insufficient production. Consumption can go on unimpeded for a long time while we scale up production.
-Crazy storage space. It will hold a few million of whatever you put into it (depending on stack size).
blueprint
The blueprint is of the basic version of what is shown above. The upgrades we made are filter inserters and a primitive balancing system (a row of provider and requester chests).

We are proud. What are your thoughts?

Re: Train based warehouse (HIGH throughput, no bots)

Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 7:13 pm
by Shokubai
In this setup you are not getting any sort of bonus from the train cars. In fact you are wasting potential storage of 3 steel chests I think.


...unless you just had an odd length gap you wanted to fill...

Re: Train based warehouse (HIGH throughput, no bots)

Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 10:49 pm
by Mehve
Bottom section of OP - rail stuff is all in 2x2 blocks, while it's impossible to create an odd spacing using only vanilla inserters (excluding long, but they're too slow) and chests. Hence, the odd-length rail wagons in the middle.

Re: Train based warehouse (HIGH throughput, no bots)

Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:18 pm
by Pygman
Nice design, thanks for sharing! What I wonder - how many more trains do you need using this?

Re: Train based warehouse (HIGH throughput, no bots)

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 3:11 pm
by Xtrafresh
Not a bad idea! It does seem like you are doubling the amount of trains on the track, as everything you produce now requires two trips to get to where it's going. As long as you have enough tracks, I guess that's ok, but for the super-high-throughput megabases this might add extra strain on the system. Who knows :p

Another suggestion would be to find a way to balance the whole warehouse over the columns. The consequences depend on how the rest of your factory is set up, butIf you have uneven demand or supply anywhere, it could lead to half-empty trains running or even trains waiting at the station indefinitely, blocking your system.

Re: Train based warehouse (HIGH throughput, no bots)

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 4:24 pm
by 4xel
Shokubai wrote:In this setup you are not getting any sort of bonus from the train cars. In fact you are wasting potential storage of 3 steel chests I think.


...unless you just had an odd length gap you wanted to fill...
Filling an odd lenngth gap is the whole point of this design.

Re: Train based warehouse (HIGH throughput, no bots)

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:14 am
by BrickNukem
Haha yep. It's actually an even gap between two inserters that is a problem. I recently saw someone else using a car for this same reason. It's 2x2 or close to it I think.
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