Given the upcoming changes to make train car lengths more consistent, I was thinking of some further related changes that would make it easier to design train stations effectively. One idea is to provide small spacer train cars which essentially do nothing, but can be added to a train just like any other train car, and which will space out the cargo wagons. This is so that train loading/unloading stations can have more room and use more precise alignment when placing the chests and inserters for each cargo wagon.
Below is an example of the current situation, with an attempt to maximum the unloading rate (and idealized a bit to presume that cargo wagons are exactly 7 tiles long). It doesn't really work very well because there's not enough room to arrange the belts. Plus the chests make an impassable wall which is inconvenient. And there's nowhere to place electric poles, so substations are mandatory.
- A dense train in the current (0.12) version, though assuming idealized perfectly-7-tile long cargo wagons, at a poorly working high-speed unloading station.
- Factorio - 2016-03-25-20-28 - Compressed Train.jpg (188.52 KiB) Viewed 2429 times
- A hypothetical train consisting of spacer cars and 6-tile long cargo wagons, at a roomier high-speed unloading station.
- Factorio - 2016-03-25-20-28 - Spaced Train.jpg (199.36 KiB) Viewed 2429 times
These spacer cars wouldn't be expected to add much weight to the train, so as not to discourage players from using because they need to balance a desire to have efficient trains and fewer engines with the desire to have clean stations that aren't overly cramped and messy.
