Trains early game

[Qwizdy]

How could I add 2 trains to one rail
One going from my main base to a ore patch
With the normal loop thing at the end of each stop
Do I need 2 rails so the trains don’t collide?

[Tertius]

The most straightforward and hassle free approach is to build one big rail loop. Think it like a regular road for cars, where your cars are only able to drive forward. One track is one road lane in one direction. A full road needs one lane in each direction.

So from your base, build a track to your ore patch. That's one lane leading from the base to the ore patch. At the ore patch, add a loop that leads back to a spot next to your incoming track. Then build a second track next to your existing track for the returning lane or track. Make the space between the two track 4 tiles big. At your base, add another loop to feed back the returning track again to the track leading to the resource patch. So you can drive in a loop endlessly, just like in a Formular 1 race.

See these articles:
https://wiki.factorio.com/Railway
https://wiki.factorio.com/Tutorial:Train_signals

and the #train-help channel on Discord: https://discord.gg/factorio

[Panzerknacker]

By using signals you can accomplish what you want. You can have a train at the mine and a train at the main base. The train at the main base unloads, then drives to the mine. When it arrives at the mine, the other train departs from the mine and drives to the main base where it starts unloading, while the first train is still loading at the mine.

You need to make a loop at each end and split off a part of that loop with signals so that it acts as a waiting section.