routing

[Slappy Da Clown]

Hi all

New to the game & so now i have a question. Perhaps someone here will know the answer.

If I build a track between 2 cities & then make a spur line to a resource. The trains that are ruoted between the 2 cities only will ALMOST always start going up the spur part way & then back down, sometimes this happens & that is all the trains do from then on ( ie they no longer go anywhere just back & forth at the junction ). I have also noticed if i make a spur that circles ( in other words it dont end but at some point returns to the main line ) trains that had different routing will no go this way EVEN if its longer to get to the next station.

Can someone tell me how to make spur lines that only get used by the trains routed there ?

Thanx in advance for any help
ALL ABOARD

Slappy Da Clown

[vancouverexpress]

[quote="Slappy Da Clown"

If I build a track between 2 cities & then make a spur line to a resource. The trains that are ruoted between the 2 cities only will ALMOST always start going up the spur part way & then back down, sometimes this happens & that is all the trains do from then on ( ie they no longer go anywhere just back & forth at the junction ). I have also noticed if i make a spur that circles ( in other words it dont end but at some point returns to the main line ) trains that had different routing will no go this way EVEN if its longer to get to the next station.

Can someone tell me how to make spur lines that only get used by the trains routed there ?
__________________________________________________________
OK, here's my advice. First, don't use easy routing. Make a separate track for each train route. So, if your first train runs between two cites, it will stay doing that when you build a second track which picks up a resource, takes in to one of your cities, then sends the finished product to your second city. The only exception, or problem, is if your resource is in between the two cities, sometimes the second train will use the original track. The way to avoid this is by not running the original line through the resource. That way, your second track will veer off the mail line to pick up the resource. It that is the only way to complete the route, it can't use the original track. Finally, I don't use circular routes for the reason you mentioned. The train doesn't pick the smartest route. It's better to have it go there, turn around, and come back. I hope this helps.
VancouverExpress

[RedKnight]

Vancouver Express have given good advice, but perhaps I can simplify it.

Do not EVER give any train, ever, a choice in what track it can take. Period. Hehe.

To amplify:

Let's call Depots/Stations/Terminals "Junctions" with "connections".

A city can have 3 connections, 4 if the junction is a terminal (as of latest version 1.1.0.). So make one connection go to the resource, another go to the other city. It's that simple.

This takes some getting used to, and some art, especially when there are lots of potential connections involved. But the best route is always the one that avoids any possible confusion.

Some important notes:
* Only passengers and mail (I'll call them "express", and everything else is "freight") depend on speed or distance. No other cargo gives a whit about waiting. So, it's 100% ok to set express trains to High priority. Then have lower priority trains join into a connection, very close to the connection, at lower priority. If the waiting does not cause any actual lost freight surplus... absolutely zero problem.
* Related to this, do not have more than one train running a given length of track for very long, unless you really know what you are doing. Let raw resource trains join the junction, very close to it, at low priority. Then, express trains can have almost all the length of track between cities to run, at full unstopped speed.
* Abuse the "this is junction" grayed rail near junctions; lay track so that your raw resources join very close to the junction house itself. (Ignore the "people walk over the track" elevated thing, it doesn't seem to matter at all.) The point is to have all trains running their very own individual track as much as possible.

I hope these tips help. Also see the wiki for more ideas.

[snoopy55]

One thing I've found - If you MUST run two tracks side-by-side to the resource, continueing one to another city, start the city-to-city train first. When it comes into the station where both tracks are, THEN start your second train. The second will stay on the resource track.
Note: This is only in 'Hard'. This is also where the AIs screw up royaly as they like to convert up to 4 station or annex tracks into one or two tracks. Makes a Merge painful when you have to correct it all. Someday I'll have to search out one of these track messes and watch how the AIs do it.

[Slappy Da Clown]

Thanx for the replies guys. Some good info here I will be trying.


Slappy Da Clown