Elevated rail unloading

[Epb7304]

This post pertains to information found in FFF-378

TL;DR

Unload trains on elevated rails by 'dumping' the items beneath it

What ?

With the new elevated rails, there is a potential new way of unloading cargo wagons similar to a method used in real life
Vertical unloading, this method would dump the items onto the ground beneath it (potentially causing a huge mess if there are no buildings underneath it) I would imagine that it could go directly into chests placed beneath it (perhaps it's a new kind of chest idk) or directly on belts or potentially even into machines

Why ?

It adds another possible method to unloading trains, and with this idea, there would be complexity and difficulty as you would need to leave room for the rail supports

[FuryoftheStars]

Something similar was just suggested an hour and a half before this post (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=110233), though this one is slightly better.

But my thoughts are similar: This would need to be restricted to only a few item types at most as otherwise it'd make it completely pointless to ever use the current inserter-to-chest method, and ores are the only item type that this makes sense for (even plates being dropped would cause damage to the plates that would make them non-uniform and thus more likely to cause issues being fed into assemblers).

[Epb7304]

Something similar was just suggested an hour and a half before this post (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=110233), though this one is slightly better.

But my thoughts are similar: This would need to be restricted to only a few item types at most as otherwise it'd make it completely pointless to ever use the current inserter-to-chest method, and ores are the only item type that this makes sense for (even plates being dropped would cause damage to the plates that would make them non-uniform and thus more likely to cause issues being fed into assemblers).

I had seen that post, it was partly what inspired this one, I felt it was different enough to warrant its own post

I think restricting it to ores would be fair, though I feel a few of the basic components (like plates) would be fine in this system, but anything more complex or fragile (anything in the logistics, production, or military tabs, and any material that would be considered fragile or complex, like circuits or engines)

maybe for added complexity (requiring circuits) the train will drop ores regardless of the fullness of the chests its dropping into (so not acting like super fast inserters) and it could spill into the ground

[picklock]

I don't like the idea of simply dropping things. But I can imagine a special new inserter that can unload from elevated trains. But I wonder whether a train stop can be placed on elevated train tracks at all.

And I see another problem. Factorio is a 2D game. I don't know if you can see what's happening in all directions. This could be problematic when troubleshooting if there is a problem with and around the unloading.

[Illiander42]

I don't like the idea of simply dropping things. But I can imagine a special new inserter that can unload from elevated trains. But I wonder whether a train stop can be placed on elevated train tracks at all.

And I see another problem. Factorio is a 2D game. I don't know if you can see what's happening in all directions. This could be problematic when troubleshooting if there is a problem with and around the unloading.

Train stops currently cannot be placed on elevated rails.

And since (if I'm guessing right) elevated rails work by the ramps simply turning on/off all interactions, then elevated inserters will be "interesting" to make work.

[FuryoftheStars]

I don't like the idea of simply dropping things.

These types of things do exist irl for loading/unloading ores, dirt & gravel, etc.
Loader: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=-qvrQ7fEcp8
Unloader: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7FipOh7NDA

[OADINC]

I think restricting it to ores would be fair, though I feel a few of the basic components (like plates) would be fine in this system, but anything more complex or fragile (anything in the logistics, production, or military tabs, and any material that would be considered fragile or complex, like circuits or engines)

I think you should restrict this dumping behavior to ores/aggregates only. I also think that a new type of "Dumping Wagon" needs to be added which can only hold ores. To make it worth using it, it should hold like slightly more like +25%?

Maybe make the unloading station like its own building which comes with its own track integrated, or have it be like signals/train stations and have it snap to elevated track. Perhaps even have the same building be a loading station when placed on ground level.