Advice on Signals - especially for large station.

[Hockeynut]

I have recently re-downloaded this and rediscovered my love of it.

This is what I've designed so far, but I have a feeling I have the wrong signal types. Despite reading about the signal types I'm struggling to grasp it, can anyone advise what I'm doing wrong here?

DC Superhub Attempt 1 - Zoomed.JPG

(650.07 KiB) Downloaded 6 times

DC Superhub Attempt 1.JPG

(654.97 KiB) Downloaded 6 times

Many thanks,
David

[liquid]

Describe what's going wrong in your game.
Anyway, I prefer to use one-way path signals or path signals. In this case - drive trough station - you can safely use the first ones. Observe, however, the distance between them to fit the largest train you use.

[Transportman]

You have a path signal before the split and path signals before the platforms, this can result in trains taking a route to a blocked platform, blocking other trains from entering the station. Remove the signals directly before platform would remove that problem.

[andy518]

My main suggestion is to remove the line linking the exit of the station to the entrance as this could cause deadlock if it's used.

[Jacko]

needs more entrances
a superhub is useless if its only one train entering at any time

[Kevo00]

Have path signals facing the platform, not away from it. You need a pathing zone in the station throat - always works for me - and even one approach is ok.

[eekee]

For a general learning tool for signals, turn on "Show reserved tracks" in advanced settings. (It's under display options which are in turn under interface.) When a train goes through a path signal that will show you the path it has chosen as darkened track, giving you some idea of the choices being made. An interesting excersise is to link a bunch of tracks together so that trains could (physically) pass each other, put path signals at the entrances only, and send several trains towards it at once. You'll see them choose paths avoiding the paths of other trains. It's also a little scary if you do it with fast trains.

Trains going through block signals don't reserve paths. Instead, only one train may be in any one block at a time, regardless of how many possible paths there may be through that block or even if there's no possible way for two trains to collide. This is limiting, you need a lot more signals for a complex junction to be efficient, but it enables some funky stuff where a small train controls other trains just by being in the same block. That's advanced stuff, there's some things on the openttdcoop wiki. Actually there are basic tutorials on there too...

I don't use block signals at all any more. I'm usually trying to shoe-horn a junction between two industries, a town, and the three stations serving them which leaves a minimum of room for signals. I just have path signals at every entrance to a junction and no signals on the exit. Trains pick their routes through such junctions quite happily. I also usually make sure each exit has a whole train-length of track before any signals so that trains don't stop while they're still on the junction, but the path-finder is good enough that it's not strictly necessary.