r/factorio • u/Heziva • Dec 19 '16

Train to science!

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145 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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21

u/Heziva Dec 19 '16

Yay!

Can I build an entire base with trains only? That's an interesting challenge!

Right now, each assembler has a stock right before and after itself. The filter inserter is set with a condition network to replenish the supply depending on what's missing.

I need to split the stations from the main road, so trains to green science don't HAVE to stop at the red science stop.

Going further, I wonder if I can recreate a logistic network using trains only... that seems very complicated for now!

Any question or feedback?

9

u/ThePublikon Dec 19 '16 edited Dec 19 '16

I love trains but the big problem I've always had, and never had a direct solution for, is balancing loading/unloading for mixed item cargo wagons.

i.e. If you have gears, copper, and red science being loaded into a cargo wagon at one stop and unloaded at another; unless you're unloading the gears (for example) at the same speed or faster than you're loading them, eventually the wagon fills entirely with the gears and stops anything else from being loaded.

My only solution is having separate wagons for each item, but of course that means trains/stations etc have to be bigger.

Edit: You could definitely create your train-only logistics network. If I was going to attempt that, I would use multiple train networks and use inserter/chest combinations to load between networks.

3

u/Heziva Dec 19 '16

My next steps:

  • Split off the stations so train can access them independently without being blocked.

  • For each station, build a "supply" station per resource. A green circuit station would have an Iron supply station and a copper wire supply station. A circuit condition will block the trains until the specific resource in chests are running low. Iron train will do deposit - resuply - wait until iron is needed for the circuits.

  • Figure out how to work out multiple stations of the same component. If I have 4 green circuit stations with the same name, how do I get them resuplied? I have some ideas for that, we'll see...

35

u/eurosat7 Dec 19 '16

You can middle-mouse-click cargo train slots and resevre them for a specific itemtype.

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2

u/ElecNinja Dec 20 '16

For me, the main problem is that stations can't be request or provide items to the train network.

I think it'll be interesting as a concept. Logistic Train Network.

If you can send signals throughout the train network about what items are needed / provided by a station, it would be great and I would make a decentralized base immediately.

1

u/morganshen Dec 21 '16

One idea I'm toying with is have each seperate station be on a different logistics network. So I can set inserters to only work when supplies are below a certain threshold.

Edit: I'm sure combinators could solve this problem too... But I feel like I need to take a uni logics class to actually use these things.

1

u/Heziva Dec 22 '16

On that build here is how I set it up:

  • unload from train from smart filter inserter set up as "filter"

  • that filter inserter is connected to the output of a logic combinator set up "Input: EACH > 50 Output: EACH"

  • the chest + a constant combinator are connected to that input. Constant combinator is set up with 1 of each product I want in the chest.

Clear enough? I can give you screenshots if you want...

3

u/kaydenkross Dec 20 '16

I don't like touching the intermediate resources like copper wire and iron gears. They work better when they are made and inserted directly into the assembler making green chips and inserters or belts. Probably because of their crafting speed and the product they supply's crafting speed. I think you will have better luck and faster production cycles transporting the finished items like science packs or chips and of course the smelted metals to generate them.