Depot servicing?

[MarkShot]

My trains only seem to use depots directly on their primary path if not given an order.

They will not use depots which require a departure from the primary path even of just a few tiles. Unless I set orders to do so.

I thought they are supposed to seek out a depot when it is time for service.

Running OTTD-JGR 0.30.3.

Help!

Thanks.

[odisseus]

I can't find a link, but I have read somewhere that a depot will be considered only if the detour required to reach it is 20 tiles or less.

Consider using "Maintain if needed" or forced servicing.

[MarkShot]

I see your point.

How to build my depots where the trains manage it themselves, but do not drag down the flow of trains?

So, I guess need to make my depot sidings just slightly longer than my trains?

Thanks.

[MarkShot]

I can't find a link, but I have read somewhere that a depot will be considered only if the detour required to reach it is 20 tiles or less.

Consider using "Maintain if needed" or forced servicing.

I conducted some experiments. It was the distance.

Now, just to be clear.

Is it 20 tiles extra to reach the depot?

or

It is 20 tiles extra to detour to the depot?

Because in the latter case, I have enough tiles to allow for full acceleration/deceleration of trains accessing depots.

Thanks!

[MarkShot]

I have been playing around with depots. It is the distance off the line to the depot, and not the entire detour length. This is quite nice as it pretty much allows trains to exit and enter depot sidings at full speed.

[odisseus]

From my experience, it seems that the length of total detour is taken into account. It would be logical, because the return path from the depot to the mainline can be arbitrarily long, and overlooking it would defeat the whole purpose of estimating detour length.

The source I mentioned earlier was ambiguous about this. If I recall correctly, it just said "detour up to 20 tiles". Anyway, this information may be outdated (or might have even been wrong from the start). The best way to know is to look into the source code...