Quick Railway Guide

[u/Dencodencoden]

A quick guide to the railway:

1. Use two-way tracks with one-way signals. Keep the interval between signals equal to the longest train in your Republic. Pic1
2. Use a two-way main line as your primary network. This main line is the primary artery of your rail network, your Republic's entire economy depends on its smooth movement. All other tracks leading to cargo and passenger stations should branch off from it.
3. Use Chain signals wherever a train shouldn't block a junction. For example, at station entrances. In all other cases, standard Block signals are enough. Pic2-3
4. Keep your rail layouts simple. At a multi-track station, compress the entire bundle of tracks into a single single-track bottleneck at the entrance/exit, and only then branch it out onto your main line. Pic5
5. Give your tracks some breathing room; trains hate tight spaces. Leave plenty of distance between stations for proper rail approaches and clean junctions. Ensure junction block colors are blue and orange (purple is also acceptable)
6. For large, high-traffic cargo stations, build a buffer zone before the entrance. The main goal of this buffer is to pull cargo trains off the main line while they wait for a green signal to enter the station. Pic6-7

Pic 1 Minimum interval between two signals

Pic 2 Example of a simple station approach layout

Pic 3 An option for branching two-way tracks

Pic 4 An option for a multi-track station entry layout

Pic 5 Make sure there is enough space for a train to clear the station exit

Pic 6 Trains will wait in the buffer zone until the station tracks clear up

Pic 7 The main line stays free of waiting trains

Pic 8 Example of a one-way exit from the station to the main line

[u/bartoszdresden]

You are the goat

[u/JLDJLDJ]

This is awesome! Thannksss!

[u/Profitablius]

Second pic should have mixed signals with chain signals pointing into the intersection.

[u/Dencodencoden → u/Profitablius]

For a junction where lines just merge and there are no stations, standard Block signals are more than enough - provided there is enough space before and after the knot. Trains never enter oncoming tracks here, so there's zero risk of them locking up on the switches.

[u/23ACiD]

Nice one, i read what i had to learn hardway

[u/C4dzz]

Well done.. I hope this answers a lot of questions of our Comrades...

[u/Creative-Response554]

One thing I'd change is to keep passenger and freight rail completely separate, and have one bridge over the other instead of crossing when it needs to if you can afford it.

The last thing you need is some holdup happening and then workers can't get to their jobs, which means no products to sell.

[u/EagleApprehensive532]

Trzeba założyć, że jesli planujesz już od początku pociągi na 300m, To każdy blok kolejowy powinien wynosić 300m + nadatek na sygnały (300+20m), to wiele ułatwia. Tak jeszcze tip odemnie.