Quickly place spaced rail signals using ctrl.

[Amak]

TL;DR

ctrl+click while holding a signal places a ghost signal at the same space from the previous signal up until the next junction or end of line

What ?

Coming from OpenTTD a quick method for me to place block (rail) signals was the ctrl+drag on a line and it would place signals at the desired spacing I selected. I really like this, it is simple and works well. I see factorio is a bit different, I think the most similar method would be to initially place a rail signal and then when you have found your desired spacing hold ctrl, click the signal block & it will place signal ghosts with the exact spacing from the previous signal up until the following junction or end of line.
Also, I looked through the commonly suggested sub-forum & the first 11 pages on a search of ideas & suggestions for 'signals' and found no topics similar.

Why ?

I have found 2 mods that do similar functions. Both are confusing.

https://mods.factorio.com/mods/Choumiko/FARL - FARL, simply fully automate rail building and just drive a train along (or it can drive itself). I actually have this installed at the moment. It makes the building of a mainline super easy.

https://mods.factorio.com/mod/RailTools - RailTools, almost exactly what I describe but even on the mod page it says it can affect performance as it does distance checks and whatnot, forgetting to hold shift while pressing backslash could potentially put signals on all lines even after junctions?? It is also more in-depth forcing the user to pre-set settings. It sounds like a great mod that I did not know about before today, I will be testing it out.

Other people's suggestions from google have been to 'just use blueprints', which are just as annoying to place as plonking down each individual signal, it also hinders creativity
by pushing people to all use similar generic "train track books". I see many videos/pictures of the same old 'rail blocks'.

Placing powerlines, underground pipes (probably other things) is great just click and hold & it will plonk down when you hit max spacing. Placing rail signals on your line is very cumbersome in vanilla.

I believe this simple feature should be in vanilla and this is why I am posting this topic, thank you for your time.

[ssilk]

Good point, but I would implement it like the pipes and poles: signal in hand, holding it somehow on the track and run/drive forward it places the signal every nth rail. Much space left here for perfection.

Edit: also tried this one? https://mods.factorio.com/mod/RailSignalPlanner

[Squelch]

It's a good suggestion.

The technique I use in lieu of auto placement like electric poles, is to use the train visualisation helper as a guide. I then move forward, usually on a train, and place a signal when the tail is seen to pass the last signal laid.

The settings window only allows a max of 12 wagons, but this can be edited in config.ini to your liking. Beware changing it in settings afterwards as it will return to 12. The only downside to this is that is all rendered in white, and for long lengths, it's difficult to see where the tail is without counting back. I keep my pointer as far ahead of myself as possible as I move forward to see when the last indicator leaves the last signal, and then make the necessary adjustment back. If the tail indicator could be colourised, it would be so much easier.

It would be so nice to have auto place.

[planetmaker]

I would love to see something like this, too. As a work-around currently you can use big-enough blueprints which just have the length of one train length including signals at front and back (so that you see when you place it correctly)