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 lineWhat ?
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.